


Star Struck

by headraline



Series: Worth the Troubles [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Also there's a kid, Canon Divergence?, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Genji Shimada is a Little Shit, I'm a sucker for family dynamics, Idiots in Love, Idk I just miss my sister, M/M, Other, Strangers to Friends, Will add more tags as I go, also undercut hanzo gives me life as well, brother dynamics give me life, brotherly Hanzo & Genji, cool uncle Zenyatta?, fatherly Hanzo, first attempt at slow burn, genji can totally purr, good lord I'm terrible at summaries, gross unprofessional flirting, hints of bunnyribbit, sassy omnics, sob, zenyatta is a cinnamon bun and needs to be loved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-10-27 13:28:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 88,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10809954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/headraline/pseuds/headraline
Summary: Hanzo's fresh start with Overwatch is rickety at best. He questions the possible benefits of heeding Genji's heartfelt request in the first place.Then he gets hit with how easy his brother could be taken away again, and decides that just maybe, he doesn't want that to happen, and starts trying a little harder.Then Fate seems to have fun throwing him the oddest of curve balls. But were does the cowboy fit in all of this?





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so. Late to the party, as usual, and I still don't know a lot about the fandom but Good GOD I already am McHanzo trash.
> 
> It's probably an overdone theme and not that interesting or whatever but i have to let this out somehow.  
> My timelines and background lore will probably be all over the place because I'm new to the fandom, so please forgive any inconsistencies. I will try to correct them as I go.  
> It probably feels rushed as fuck but I can't really help it my hands just write and they don't stop until the very specific scenes I have in mind happen, and usually the entire rest of the story is a setup to those five or six scenes...  
> Idk just take this.

Accepting Hanzo Shimada as a part of Overwatch was a challenge, to put it in the most flattering terms. Jesse can remember clearly the moment, not too long after the recall, when Genji told him he was going to extend the invitation to his brother; and he especially remembers his own choice words about it.

He could not, for the life of him, understand why or how the cyborg could even contemplate forgiving his murderer, let alone teaming up with him –he still doesn’t, not completely.

But then Genji took off his visor and fixated this sort of _look_ on him.

“I have had a long time to think about this.” He had said, “At the end of the day, the reality of facts is that I am not dead. And I am free of everything that I had been trying to escape from, back in Hanamura.” His expression was unguarded and vulnerable to an almost painful level, something McCree knew to be rare, very few people ever got to see Genji like this. Hell, he was one of the only two, a far as he knew. “The same cannot be said for him. He started hating himself the moment he raised his blade against me, and he has been more dead than I have been, in the decade we spent apart, working to tear down everything that lead up to the day we were unjustly pitched against each other like it meant nothing, and not living for himself, not even one day through it all.”

 _Goddamnit, Genji,_ he remembers thinking, _You were not supposed to make sense._

“I have come to understand many things I was too blinded to see when we were younger.” Genji continued, undeterred by McCree’s flabbergasted look, “About myself, and the life Hanzo had never had the luxury to be able to call his own… all the way up to the moment everything was ruined, along with my body.” There was something haunting about the cyborg’s smile, where his genuine upper lip met the synthetic lower one, but it still was one of the softest expressions the cowboy had ever seen on him, “It all boils down to one fact: I am still alive, my brother is still alive, and the Shimada clan can never control us anymore. I simply cannot let such a reality go to waste.”

Whoever said blood runs thicker than water had certainly not been exaggerating. Jesse remembers breathing out a little disbelieving laugh, muttering “Hot damn.” And not really believing Genji’s surprisingly wise spiel about forgiveness and the likes was actually serious.

That was then. Now, as he watches the cyborg wait for the transport to open and reveal his brother, giddy as a schoolgirl waiting to be asked out to prom, McCree knows better than to ever doubt whether Genji means the things he says or not.

There hasn’t been any such tension with the other new recruits so far –Hana and Lúcio were both a delight, if a bit on the young side and each slightly disarming in their own right – but then again, the situation isn’t exactly a normal one, with most of the team knowing they’ll be welcoming Genji’s would-be murderer, and said assassin knowing that the team would know.

The poignant silence that permeates the hangar as soon as the archer steps off makes Jesse feel second hand awkwardness, it’s so dense that whatever sense of righteous anger was left in him towards the man flies out the window, especially when he gets a good look at the infamous older brother’s face.

Hanzo Shimada carries himself with all the poise and dignity one would expect from an ex-yakuza overlord, but the look in his eyes clearly tells Jesse he’s expecting to be walking in a roomful of people willing to hit him where it hurts, and the archer is going to _let them_.

For all his tall talk and excitement up until two literal seconds before, Genji is now grasping at straws for something to say. He settles for the obvious. “Brother. You look… well.”

Hanzo’s lips twitch minutely –it’s probably as much as the team is going get as a scoff while they’re still in public – and addresses Genji without really looking up at him. He feels like shit and he’s quite sure he looks the part. “Thanks. You look… very much alive.”

Jesse is sure he cringed so bad his body physically recoiled, but clearly the Shimada brothers have their own brand of humour, and the cyborg just throws his head back at the awkward statement, laughing like Hanzo just said something hilarious. “Um, yes, well…” he starts, once the giggling settled, “Let me introduce you… this is Winston, resident scientist and current commander.”

To his credit, Hanzo doesn’t look _too_ shocked to see a talking gorilla in a power suit. The benefit of growing up as a yakuza warrior with spirit dragons at his call, maybe? Surely he’s seen his fair share of weird shit.

Winston tries. “It’s, uh… nice to finally meet you, Hanzo. Or is it Shimada-san?” …not that it’s a particularly good attempt, the cowboy muses.

The archer seems to make a conscious effort not to bodily recoil. “Hanzo will do just fine.” He stiffly informs the gorilla, returning the pleasantries with a small bow, “Shimada is just a surname, now.”

 _Clearly it’s not, if you flinch at the mere thought of being still associated with it._ Jesse muses, understanding where the man is coming from and finally seeing with his own two eyes what Genji tried to tell him about sincere atonement and chances at redemption.

The rest of the introductions is rickety at best, and at some point someone, maybe Torbjörn, whispers a “Just don’t expect me to have my back to him anytime soon” just loud enough for Hanzo to hear, and the weirdest thing happens:

Genji was about to leap to his brother’s defence, starting with a “Hey” that gets cut off when his brother grabs his wrist.

“Let them.” He says, firmly but softly, still not looking up to Genji’s visor, “It’s better like this. To get it out of their systems. It’s… understandable.”

So Hanzo does not want Genji to vouch for him and will not try to defend himself. Talk about going above and beyond. McCree swears to himself, these Japanese folks and their penchant for taking things to an extreme –granted, attempted murder on one’s own brother was no small deal by any stretch of the definition, but there’s only so much you can do about something ten years in the past.

Then again, if the stoic countenance and sharp eyes are anything to go by and Hanzo’s will to turn over a new leaf is genuine, it’s probably nothing less than what they should have been expecting.

Jesse clears his throat, anything to break the silence that has once more settled over them. “Genji tells us you’re pretty handy with that bow of yours.” He says, scrambling for a conversation topic, “It’ll be mighty fine to have a sniper with your skill on the team.”

Not knowing the archer well enough, if at all, McCree doesn’t know what to make of the way his eyes widen just a fraction as the grip on Genji’s wrist loosens, but hey, at least he was able to diffuse the situation.

Then again, maybe the look on Hanzo’s face was because of the hat. Not many people would walk into Watchpoint: Gibraltar expecting an honest to God cowboy.

 

It takes days for the old team to overcome the unease about their new entry enough to not openly antagonize him; and even longer to accept that, just because “Genji’s murderer” was all they previously knew of him that doesn’t mean it is all that Hanzo is: he gives helpful critique and pointers during training drills and makes good suggestions about theories and case scenarios, and was seen one time in the rec room, draping a blanket over a sleeping Hana who crashed asleep on the couch, controller still in hand after streaming for God knows how many hours.

Clearly, they’ve got themselves a damn fine sniper and strategist, and also a truly devoted individual who will throw himself into fire for his duty –whatever horrible duel that led to Genji being what he is know is nothing if not proof of the archer’s painful sense of obligation, however morbid that seems.

Jesse just wishes everyone would stop tip-toeing around him and just give him a chance. He almost laughs out loud as the thought crosses his head and he compares it to what he felt the first time Genji ever talked about reconciling with his brother.

He gets his own chance to do just that on a sleepless night, when he decides he needs to burn off some excess steam and makes his way down to the practice ranges and finding somebody was already inside.

Seeing Hanzo clad in his kyudo-gi, looking already all proper and groomed with his hair tied up showing off the shorn sides, makes Jesse feel slightly self-conscious about his much more casual look, having barely put on sweatpants and shoes with his tank top for his nightly training, but he’s quick to brush it off.

“Mind if I join you?” he asks, “Haven’t been able to get a lick of sleep and was kinda lookin’ forward to let off some steam…”

Hanzo takes a long, appraising look at him, and shoots the arrow he already had nocked without pausing to make sure he still was on target. He hits the bullseye anyway.

 _Show-off._ A corner of his mind supplies.

“Not at all.” The elder Shimada finally answers, the barest hint of a smirk gracing his lips, “You have quite the reputation as a sharpshooter. I have been waiting for the chance to measure myself against your skill, McCree. Genji holds you in very high regard.”

If the hint of jealousy in Hanzo’s voice is apparent, Jesse doesn’t mention it. Nor does he really know about the archer’s slight bitterness over someone else playing the role in Genji’s life that should have been his –and then the bitterness over the fact that he has no right to be jealous about anything, considering what happened, and then some. Still, the man is so buried in his guilt it rolls off him in waves whenever his brother is mentioned, so the cowboy lets it go in favour of a much more stimulating topic: “Aw, shucks, little ol’ me?” he says, with just a little bit of tease in his voice, “I’ve actually been wondering myself, ta be honest. Wanna make a bet out of it?”

The proposal is intriguing to say the least. Hanzo raises his eyebrows at that. “Stakes?”

“Winner chooses the after-training drinks?” McCree offers with a shrug.

Hanzo puffs out a short breath from his nose in what might have been a laugh if only he allowed the air to leave his lips. He is not quite ready to admit it yet, but he rather likes this McCree person. He has been the only one so far who wouldn’t walk on eggshells around him, and he can appreciate the honesty; sure, the cowboy getup is absolutely ridiculous and it would have been impossible for Hanzo to take him seriously if not for Genji’s stories, but luckily he knows better than to judge someone based on appearance and –mild confusion as to why anyone would think spurs where a good idea in battle aside– he couldn’t give any less of a damn about how anyone looks.

“You’re on.” he finally says, and Athena sets targets and timer for them.

They start with stationary targets and then move onto bots with relative ease, and Hanzo has to admit he is impressed with McCree’s speed and marksmanship –especially considering the late hour and how the other man just got here from bed– but the final tally sees him slightly ahead in speed and accuracy, possibly on account of him having been already up and alert whereas Jesse had only just stumbled out of sleep, but the cowboy is a good sport about it and they wind up sitting at a table in the kitchen, talking over a shared cup of sake. Or two. Or six.

Both of them can hold their liquor well enough to be barely tipsy by the time they put away the cups, and despite having talked only about superficial things –weapon preferences, places visited… _safe_ things, not really getting to know each other because _that would be preposterous it’s only been a couple of weeks and this is not his real home he’s only here as a promise to Genji_ – Jesse can’t help but ask one personal question, as he sees the archer towel off his fingers after washing the cups they used and then his own hands.

“Does Genji know ya do that?”

The expression deer in headlights comes to mind, when Hanzo stills and tries to be subtle about it. “Beg pardon?”

“That.” Jesse gestures to the angry red lines on his hands and wrists with a nod, “Scrub at yerself like your hands ain’t never gonna be quite clean enough.”

All chances at subtlety out of the window, the archer drops his gaze and lets out a sigh. He picked out the compulsive habit somewhere in the last decade, when he still thought he had been successful in his fratricide, and somehow it stuck with him. “Well. It’s the truth.” He mutters, for the first time not at all haughty or guarded.

Genji definitely hadn’t been lying about his brother’s remorse. Hot damn.

“Look. I get it. But there’s only so much you can dwell on—”

“Do you, really?” the angry hiss is unexpected, but not overly so at the same time. It reminds him of the dragons Jesse knows Hanzo can control, despite never having seen them himself. He’s more startled by the way the archer grabs the front of his tank top to yank him down to his eye level, all intimidating power despite standing a good head shorter than him, “Do you have any idea how it feels to take a sword to what should have been the most important person of your life, your only _real_ family, and carrying the weight of the deed you had deluded yourself into believing necessary for _ten years_?”

“I…”

Hanzo doesn’t let him answer the question. “Do not presume to know anything about what I might or might not feel.” He snaps, letting go of the hold on the cowboy’s shirt just as suddenly as he grabbed him, “When Genji sought me out, I expected a quick death. I _anticipated_ death. Instead I get forgiveness. A second chance with a brother who is more to me than I could ever hope to deserve.”

At this point, McCree is sure Hanzo is more tipsy than he previously let on, because no way he’d be sharing something this personal while sober –either that, or he is quite desperate for someone to talk to.

“I shouldn’t even have the right to look at him.” Hanzo’s voice drops to a whisper, and his grip on the kitchen towel he still had in his hands grows so tight his knuckles go white, “But I am weak. And selfish. I want that second chance so badly. But I can’t—”

This time, McCree does interrupt “Hey.” He says, bringing both hands on the other’s shoulders, distractedly registering the oddity of tattooed skin under one hand and fabric under the other, “Think of it as a second chance for Genji, then.” He pauses, trying and failing to look for a way to say this that won’t make him sound like an asshole, “Look, I’ve known the lil’ shit a good long time an’ I’ve been the closest thing to a… replacement as it got, for a while. But even with how close we were, I can tell it don’t amount to an ounce of the real thing. Genji misses his brother. He wants ya back. Clean slate an’ all that. D’you really wanna let that go to waste?”

For a split second, the cowboy thinks Hanzo is going to punch him for that, but instead he only feels the archer’s shoulders sag slightly at his words. “I… suppose not.” Is all the other says, nodding at him and politely sidestepping out of his grip. “I will think about this. Goodnight, McCree.” Hanzo stops just short of the door to the hallway, to turn slightly to address him over his shoulder, “And thank you, for… well, everything.”

Jesse is left standing alone in the kitchen, arms still somewhat hanging in front of him at an awkward angle but stupidly proud of himself and musing that maybe, just maybe, the interaction between the Shimada brothers will grow less strained and more sincere.

Hopefully. With a bit of time.


	2. Lullaby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, to recognize how much you value something, you have to see it almost snatched away from you.  
> Hanzo runs facefirst into the feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should take this chance to emphasize one thing: many of Genji's and Hanzo's interactions are inspired from how my sister and I are... we used to fight a lot, and one time it got physical and, being the one trained in martial arts, I almost broke her arm. I felt horrible about it for weeks. It's obviously not the same as attempted murder, but. Let's just say these two hit me close to home. Especially since I moved out of the family home to work abroad and miss my sis' something fierce, only ever meeting her over Skype or when I go home for the holidays...  
> either way, enough about me, let's get on with this trainwreck!

It starts with Hanzo not shying away from Genji anymore as they passed each other in the halls, going as far as quietly having tea in a corner of the rec room as Genji hung out with his friends, chatting about this and that and bringing up the possibility of having his omnic “Master” join their cause –he’s still quiet, stoic and doesn’t speak unless spoken to, but at least the archer doesn’t look ready to bolt at the next given moment.

The turning point is, oddly enough, the moment Hanzo finally gets cleared for a mission. It’s something short-distance and relatively simple: the archer gets sent alongside Genji, himself and Tracer to try and suppress a skirmish that broke out over in Lebrija between a pretty angry anti-omnic group and what amounted to a small, peaceful omnic community guilty of nothing except flourishing in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Hanzo takes to the rooftops to use his sniping abilities to his best, Genji and McCree take point and Lena acts as their pilot and backup, also protecting Lúcio who came along to protect the civilians and be their field medic should the need arise.

The fight that breaks out is a short and brutal thing, and they seem to have the upper hand until Jesse’s shout of Genji’s name echoes through the comm and they all feel and hear the familiar boom of an EMP charge. Clearly, they attacked with omnics in mind, and when they saw Genji they mistook him for an omnic.

Hanzo is pretty sure he’s never run so fast in his entire life.

_Not like this notlikethisnotlikethisIcan’tlosehimlikethis._

“Man down! Opening fire on the enemy but we’re surrounded! I can buy us some time but I’m gonna need backup!”

“On my way!” he all but shouts at McCree over the comms, darting from rooftop to rooftop and getting there just in time to see the cowboy somehow half the numbers of their assailants. Time seems to hiccup in place, in a way not too much unlike what they experience when they get too close to Tracer as she zips forward and back, and he hears the horrible catchphrase Genji swore to him looked cooler in person.

“It’s high noon.”

Peacekeeper sings six times, and as many enemies fall dead, giving Hanzo enough time to reach them and put himself between them and the remaining attackers. He sees the cowboy slump forwards from the corner of his eye, possibly drained by whatever that insane trick was –he’d have to make a note to ask Jesse later – but everything else fades at the sight of his brother on the ground, sparks going off here and there over his body and clearly not  able to defend himself.

It would appear that Genji managed to avoid a direct hit and has only been affected by the blast’s shockwave, but it was still enough to knock him down, despite him being a cyborg only in part. Hanzo doesn’t need to think, doesn’t need to make any conscious effort to draw the arrow, doesn’t feel the air around them crackle with ozone, doesn’t even register his own voice as he shouts to call forth his last resort.

_“Ryuu ga waka teki wo kurau!”_

The sound around them gets drowned out by the roar of the twin dragons manifesting into life and cleaving through whatever was left of their enemies. McCree is barely semi-conscious as he watches it happen, but it still draws a shocked gasp from his mouth. He’s seen Genji’s dragon out on occasion, but that doesn’t take away from the experience.

When the air around them returns to normal, none of the assailants are left standing and Hanzo just turns and runs by his brother’s side, dropping to his knees and holding him something fierce. “The enemy is neutralized, but we need immediate extraction.” He says over the comm, trying to sound calm and professional but failing abysmally, “McCree is down, possibly from exhaustion, and my br— Genji needs medical attention.”

“We’re on our way, luv! Sit tight!”

“Holy shit, I could see that from here! That was _awesome_! What even was that?!”

The person he was in the past would have felt pride at making jaws drop, but as it is Hanzo just wants to get the hell out of there. “Please tell me you have something that works on Genji’s body.”

Lúcio kneels beside him and directs his speakers towards Genji. “I can stop any lasting damage and regenerate him enough to be moved, but anything over that is too advanced, we’ll have to take him back to base to get him back to 100%.”

Not ideal, but comforting. Hanzo doesn’t bother to hide his relief at the news that his brother is banged up but will no doubt make it. He feels more than sees Genji regain consciousness as metal and padding fingers weakly curl around his own, and that infinitesimal touch makes him throw the patented stoic Shimada countenance to the wind.

“Genji. Genji. _Otouto. Suzume._ ” He calls, softer than he has ever spoken to anyone in years, bringing his free hand to rest against the nape of his brother’s neck and not giving a damn about any of these almost-strangers see him display what their father would have deemed shameful weakness.

“Jeez.” Genji rasps out, amusement evident in his voice, but with something more in it as well. Something almost fond. “If I had known getting my ass beat would be the thing to bring you back to me, I’d have talked Winston into putting you on a mission sooner.”

The joke is dark, in bad taste and dreadfully reminiscent of the last time Genji had “his ass beat” with Hanzo present, but it’s so undeniably _him_ that it startles a laugh out of Hanzo.

“Of all the things you say, you absolute—” the conversation switches to muttered Japanese, but the amused, if slightly choked laughter coming from Genji is enough to put the rest of the team at ease, as Tracer brings the transport as close as possible and they all pile in, Hanzo half-carrying his brother and all but sitting the cyborg in his lap, despite Genji being taller and now far heavier than him, one arm around his younger brother’s shoulders and the other at the nape of his neck.

There was something slightly off-putting about two grown-ass men sitting forehead to chin, and even weirder was to hear the eldest Shimada whisper-singing something at his brother, something that sounded awfully like a lullaby.

_“hana no you ni hakanai no nara  
kimi no moto de sakihokoru deshou” _

From his time with Genji, McCree can sleepily make out some words after a while, like “flower”, and “you”, but still has mostly no idea what is it about. Still, Genji seems to forget about the ache in his still sparking joints and the line of his shoulders relaxes in his brother’s embrace.

_“soshite egao mitodoketa ato  
sotto hitori chitteyuku deshou” _

If he wasn’t almost out cold due to the Deadeye’s strain, Jesse would almost find it cute.

_“tori no you ni habatakeru nara  
kimi no moto e tondeyu_ _ku deshou”_

Tori. That means “bird”, his tired mind supplies. He vaguely remembers Genji mentioning his nickname being “sparrow” at some point, when reminiscing about happier times, and idly wonders if the particular choice of lullaby is deliberate.

_“soshite kizu o otta sono se ni  
boku no hane o sashidasu deshou”_

At this point Jesse is way too tired to even try following and figure out whether the brothers are sharing a moment or they’re both just acting on long suppressed instincts. What he does know is that the entire situation is very uncomfortable for the transport’s two other occupants –most of Overwatch’s members thought the elder Shimada had a stick so far lodged up his ass it could be seen from his throat, and even the unprejudiced new recruits were slightly uneasy around the archer, if only because Hanzo refused to make a secret of his deeds and wore his guilt on his sleeve, with all the dignity of a man owning up to his past mistakes.

And now, all that veneer just about disappeared, worry over his brother making him revert back into the doting older sibling he never had the chance to be, yakuza reputation be damned. He can pretend to be asleep and Tracer is busying herself with piloting, but Lúcio looks like he doesn’t quite know what to do with himself, nor where to look to avoid being impolite and staring.

McCree is almost sorry to have missed what surely has been a very interesting landing, but alas he finally actually passed out halfway back to Gibraltar.

As Lena recounts it, Hanzo has been reluctant to leave his brother’s side, especially after Genji actually fell asleep in his lap, and it took all of Angela’s persuading to get the archer to go and have a shower and some rest. Three times she had to assure him that one EMP charge, not even a direct hit, wouldn’t be enough to destroy Genji’s exoskeleton or kill him, and that he’d be alright come morning, if a bit loopy.

The doctor had been one of the most reluctant to accept Hanzo as one of them, despite trying hard to be polite for Genji’s sake, but she can’t deny the sincerity of a man falling asleep sitting at the edge of her patient’s bed over something that said patient would consider barely a scrap, once he woke up. If she had to give a professional opinion, she’d say that Hanzo was as traumatized by killing his brother as Genji had been about being the victim; and that having him back after what transpired made the archer heavily overreact at the mere thought of losing his brother again.

“It kind of makes me smile but also makes me really sad… does that make sense?” she finishes, closing the door behind herself to give the brothers some more time together, asleep as they both might be, ushering Lúcio away with the intent of checking on them half an hour later.

The DJ nodded at her. “Man, I haven’t been here long but that was… weird.” He muses, scratching at the back of his neck, “Did they really try to kill each other at some point?”

Angela is visibly uncomfortable. “You’re gonna have to ask them, if you want that particular story.”

 

On the other side of the door, the cyborg begins to stir, and he’s met with his brother’s prone form over his lap.

«Really? » he muses in Japanese, startling Hanzo awake, «Really, you big giant baby?»

«I resent that remark. » The archer replies, as soon as he gathers his wits back. «I panicked, okay? I didn’t know how much of you was… how much the blast would have affected you. »

«Shimada Hanzo, panicking. That’s one for the history books. »

«Shut up. I’m never singing you lullabies again. »

«You always said that, and yet…» The very moment he goes to take off his visor, Hanzo’s eyes drop to the floor. _Not this time,_ Genji thinks, extending a hand to grab his brother’s. «Brother, look at me.»

Hanzo takes a deep, shaky breath and raises his gaze. They’re not in the darkness of Hanamura’s rooftops anymore, and he can clearly see the marred skin, the point where flesh meets metal and synthetic fiber, everything _he_ is the cause for. He doesn’t look away anymore. He owes Genji this much, at least.

When Angela comes back to check on them, the atmosphere is way more relaxed and the elder Shimada seem to have regained his usual composure as he stands up and bows to her. “Thank you, for taking care of him when I didn’t.” he tells her, clearly not referring to patching the cyborg up just last night, “I will forever be in your debt.”

It’s formal and still slightly stiff, but his voice is far from the cold, detached tone he used on his first days on base, giving monosyllabic answers to whoever bothered to speak to him. It leaves a slightly surprised smile on Angela’s face and the most smug grin she ever saw on Genji.

 

Lúcio’s enthusiastic retelling of the battle and specifically of how Hanzo dropped himself in between his team mates and several armed hostiles as a meat shield, and then proceeded to tear their asses apart with literal dragons, does the rest of the work.

Obviously, one random event of brotherly reconciliation does not immediately lift any and all uncertainty about Hanzo, but it’s a step in the right direction. People on the team actually start listening and looking, instead of just tolerating the archer’s presence –so far, Hanzo had been doing his best to live around base mostly undetected, only visiting Genji sporadically and removing himself from the common areas as soon as they were occupied, save for training drills and other such work.

After Angela had a chance to actually see the brothers’ will to fix the rift between them first hand, she became way more supportive of the idea to give Hanzo a chance; and slowly but surely, the archer doesn’t shy away from invitations to dine together with whoever is present at a given meal time, even joining in light conversation when he feels particularly bold.

He’s engaged in an extensive talk with Hana when Jesse joins them for dinner, listening to the young star’s stories about military life and online gaming alike, every once in a while even asking question about how she balances those two.

“Sleep is for the weak!!!” she proudly exclaims as an answer to where does she find the time to fit everything in her schedules, “I can survive 88 hours on microwave popcorn and energy drinks!”

Hanzo just blinks at her. “That… doesn’t sound healthy.”

Hana doesn’t seem deterred, and McCree chuckles to himself, not so discreetly taking a seat at Genji’s other side. “He seems to be doing better.” He whispers at the other, feeling safe enough that the D.Va still holds the archer’s full attention.

“I think miss Song is awakening deep-buried dadfeelings in my brother.” Genji replies, barely able to contain his amusement. “He seems outraged at her idea of a proper diet.”

“Speaking of, how’d you lose your legs?”

Maybe it’s their fault for not following the conversation, but that sounds like a drastic shift in topic if they ever heard one. Still…

 _Yes, do tell, brother, I’m curious myself._ Oh no… he’s becoming as protective as Hanzo if he’s this irked by something clearly in the past. And yet he can’t deny the subtle clenching of his own fists, his own reluctance to even ask. Stupid undying family bond.

Instead of being offended or forlorn at the question, Hanzo smirks knowingly to himself. “After I set out to destroy the remains of my own clan, they put a price on my head pretty fast.” He explains, clearly not willing to get too into detail even though everyone here knows how he had been spending his time tearing down the Shimada clan piece by piece, but giving up one piece of information: “Somewhere in those first few years, one… gentleman, thought he could take me down if he blasted off my legs with a cleverly shot explosive round. My dragons and I decided to disagree.”

Hana has stars in her eyes at this point. “That. Is. SO BADASS!” at this point the room’s other occupants are surprised she didn’t crack glass. Hanzo himself flinches slightly, “You’re literal proof of my splatter games catchphrase!”

The archer isn’t sure he wants to know. Lúcio pipes in. “Is this about the thing you were streaming last night with the dude on the bike with harpoons coming from everywhere and you yelling ‘You don’t need legs to win!’?”

Genji finally bursts out laughing. “Oh my god that’s so old!!! Where did you find a copy of that?”

“That is a trade secret, mister cyborg ninja, nothing amateurs would know.”

“Hey! I’ll have you know I used to have the highest records in the arcades all over Hanamura!”

Their banter becomes chatter, while Hanzo just sits there for a few seconds, realization that he just mentioned something very sensitive about himself without having to brace for a reaction. The table, the people around him talking about this and that, the occasional bursts of laughter…

 _Is this what a_ real _family feels like? Have I never really had a family before now?_

He vaguely registers someone asking him if anything is wrong, but he just shakes his head and politely excuses himself. He stops in the middle of a hallway when he realizes he has no idea of where he’s going, and it takes him less of a second to notice he’s being followed.

“Yes, McCree?” because really, who else would wear spurred boots indoors?

The cowboy doesn’t look as taken aback at being spotted as he could have –he’s probably used to not being able to slip by Genji. “You, uh… you alright, pardner? You had this kind of look about ya when you left, and, uh…”

“Why do you care so much?” it comes across harsher than Hanzo would have liked, as he turns to face the cowboy, and he’s about to apologize –it’s unfair to be defensive with McCree of all people, the man has surprisingly been the one to deal with their situation in the most understanding and mature way; despite all his bravado and dumb persona, but McCree just waves him off.

“Let’s just say I know a thing or two about losing family. And I know a thing or two about second chances.” He says with a shrug, his neutral expression betrayed by a slight stiffness in his shoulder that makes Hanzo wonder, “Maybe one day we’ll talk. But this ain’t about me. This is about whatever you saw in there that made ya wanna run.”

Deceptively perceptive. He plays the loudmouth and the fool, and yet he has the keenest eye Hanzo has ever seen on a man –perhaps more than his own, blind as he has been to so many things in his life. “I…”

“Go on, yer secret’s safe with me.”

“I just…” he struggles slightly with finding the words, fidgeting with the right sleeve of his kyudo-gi, “I can’t look at Genji without remembering, and it seems so absurd to think that it’s really just… behind us. That I’m allowed to have… this.” He worries his lower lip with his teeth. “It can’t possibly be that easy.”

That draws a smirk from Jesse’s mouth. “You call what you’ve been through these past few weeks ‘easy’?” he asks, rhetorically, before taking a few tentative steps forward to put a hand on the archer’s shoulder, “Ya know, sometimes it is that easy. And sometimes it ain’t, but even then… is it worth it to throw a perfectly good thing away just ta wallow in ghosts of the past?”

It’s not. “Is it okay for me to just take it? To be selfish? I took so much and Genji… he’s giving me more than I ever had a right to. What does that make me?”

A strange look passes over McCree’s face, as he tips his hat. It’s not pity, and it’s not sympathy… maybe empathy would be more accurate. Like he’s somehow been there. “Human, I’d wager.” the cowboy says, looking down at him with a wry smile on his lips, “We ain’t perfect. And we can only decide what to do with what’s in front of us.”

Genji has talked to him about all of his team mates, singing praises about the good doctor, the great crusader, the amazingly smart talking gorilla _–isn’t it awesome? A gorilla scientist!–_ but Hanzo had struggled to see what was so special about the cowboy with a six shooter and a foul mouth, until now.

Ever since his arrival at Gibraltar, McCree offered him silent understanding at first, giving him his own space to sort out his demons, then camaraderie over their shared skillset, and a good talk over a drink. Their conversation just now finally makes Hanzo acknowledge that the strange cowman might very well be his first friend here.

“Would you—” whatever that question was going to be gets derailed by the archer shaking his head and seemingly switching gears, the barest hint of a smile on his lips, “Would you like to accompany me to the practice range? I seem to recall owing you a rematch after I so thoroughly beat you last time.”

Jesse doesn’t question it. He returns the smile. “Them’s fighting words, archer. You’re on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Otouto" is Japanese for little brother, "suzume" is Japanese for sparrow.  
> Here's the song Hanzo sings to his brother because I'm a sap and I used to sing this to my sister back when we were both huge weebs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hCX5mAVkv8  
> And a googled translation of the verses McCree hears:  
> "If my life is transient like a flower  
> I'll be in full bloom by your side
> 
> And after watching your smile  
> I'll wither alone, quietly
> 
> If I could flutter like a bird  
> I would fly to you
> 
> And offer my wing  
> To your wounded back"
> 
> The entire text of the songs talks of a pure kind of love, much more family-like than anything, and the person singing has some sort of guilt over the person they're singing to, implying heavily throughout the song that they suffered because of the singer and now they were there to make amends.
> 
> I'm still trash.


	3. Chance encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mission that just narrowly avoids going tits up gets the team more than they bargained for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand finally we're getting into something!
> 
> Don't mind me, I'll just go and pour all my father issues into this.
> 
> Also, from now on any speech between «these» is Japanese.  
> I can't be bothered to look up the words every time, so there's that.

Hanzo’s relationship with Hana slowly but surely improves his relationship with all of the others as well. Torbjörn somewhat grudgingly praises his skills at one point, which speaks volume, given the man’s usual disposition, and Reinhardt goes full-on friendship speech when that happens, leaving behind a very confused Hanzo in semi-shock at being manhandled into a hug by the German giant.

Not even Genji’s snort of laughter and comment about him being a “small bean” were enough to immediately piss off the archer enough to get out of his stupor. He also gets used to being around the ladies in the team: Hana seems to have adopted him as a surrogate uncle and the previously elusive Mei isn’t so shy around him anymore –they have found common grounds in a shared love for the beauty of snowy landscapes and started talking from there; Tracer –no, Lena – was there the time he had his tiny emotional breakdown with Genji in his arms, and has not so subtly been trying to set up a karaoke night recently. Every time she brings it up, Hanzo politely replies that the next time he embarrasses himself that way will be over someone’s dead body, preferably his own. “But I am open to suggestions” he would then say, with a mock-menacing glare that would send Hana into guffaws.

All in all, Winston is happy that the team is not only working well together, but even interacting in a more or less healthy way –which is more than what could be said about Overwatch in the last few years preceding the Swiss headquarters incident.

Which is why he’s not opposed to welcoming Genji’s omnic guru in their ranks, when the cyborg pitches the idea by him again –with the way the younger Shimada speaks about Zenyatta, it’ll be probably a much easier transition than recruiting his brother had been.

Hanzo misses the arrival, out on a reconnaissance mission with Tracer, but he gets practically tackled by an overenthusiastic cyborg brother two seconds into his return some odd days later.

“Genji, you really have to work on remembering that you’re mostly made of metal now, and I’m not twenty anymore.”

His brother has the decency to sound slightly sheepish as he apologizes, while he rubs around his chest already feeling the beginnings of a bruise. Introductions with the monk are an awkward affair, but Zenyatta offers him to come meditate with them when he next has the chance, and Hanzo extends him the same thanks he gave to Angela, this time for fixing his brother’s soul.

Zenyatta is only slightly cryptic as he says “Whatever I might have taught Genji, in our search for inner peace, he also taught something to me, of inestimable value.”

The long silence that follows and the way his brother looks bashful at the praise even through his visor make Hanzo not want to ask, for some reason. Genji decides for a change of topic, his low whistle sounding a bit off and metallic as he appraises his brother’s casual look.

“Finally decided to dress for this day and age, brother?” he teases, poking and pulling at the leather jacket, “It suits the piercings at least. Which we never talked about, by the way! I had been meaning to ask… what the hell, Hanzo?”

Trust Genji to be part of an enlightened spiritual discussion one minute, and gossip about piercings the next. Some things never change. The archer shrugs. “I was on the run a lot. Making changes to my face seemed like a good idea.” He explains, matter-of-factly, ignoring Genji’s mutter of “spoilsport”, “And no, this was just for the mission. I’m not giving up the comfort of my kyudo-gi.”

“What kind of mission was it anyway?”

Hanzo doesn’t get to open his mouth and possibly downplay the story, mostly because Hana just came down to meet her ‘Japanese uncle’ and has immediately seized Tracer for a story upon seeing him otherwise occupied:

“—and you should have seen it, it was bloody brilliant!” Lena laughs heartily, “Our target was just there, and I had been trying to get his attention to distract him away from our snooping but _nothing_ , okay? And I’m just starting to feel a little bad about myself, because even though I’m not into that it’s a blow, y’know? But then _he_ …” there’s a pause for some more laughter, “Goes and tells me—” she clears her voice to drop it a few octaves into a somewhat convincing Hanzo impression, “You can’t find out what a man wants by looking at him. You have to look at what he’s looking at.” Which clues Hanzo in on what part of the story Tracer is actually on, and it takes all he has not to bury his face in his hands; “And before I can understand what he’s even on about, he takes his hair down, shakes it about a bit, and _bam_! Different person altogether. Walks straight up to the target and sweet talks him away, giving me ample time to go and make a copy of all the data he was carrying in his little tablet!”

“You’re joking.”

Lena seems to revel in Hana’s shocked expression. “Nope. Turns out the bloke had a soft spot for Asian pretty-boys!”

 _Pretty-what?_ “I resent that remark. I’m 38.” Hanzo protests.

“And you’d look 16 again if you shaved, brother.” Genji unhelpfully supplies.

“Pics or it didn’t happen!” Hana finally shouts.

This time the archer actually does hide his face in his hands. It’s not like he’s actually embarrassed, seduction tactics are one of the most basic skills you learn when you’re in the yakuza, both he and Genji knew how to get people interested, and then get them to agree to anything just for a chance in bed –something that Genji used to his advantage when picking up his never-ending parade of partners– it’s just that he doesn’t think they should make such a big deal out of it. Also, he didn’t think Lena actually took a picture, but there he is, sitting at a bar counter with their target, the still-frame showing him with one hand carding through his loose hair and lips curled in a fake sultry smile like he’s actually paying attention to whatever the man was going on about, one leg crossed over the other and his foot ‘casually’ brushing on the target’s shin.

Predictably, Hana bursts out laughing, between gasps of “oh god this is the best” and “never thought you had it in you, Han”… Hanzo takes a deep breath and turns to his brother, who’s trying and failing to hide his snickering.

“Genji? Tell Zenyatta I’ll take him up on that offer to meditate.”

“Really?” the cyborg sobers up pretty fast into hopeful earnestness.

“I’m going to need a lot of that to forget about this entire thing.”

…and promptly goes back to laughing at his brother.

It’s the best feeling ever since… ever. He hasn’t had a chance to let go like this in a long while. After he found himself still alive thanks to Dr. Ziegler’s expert hands, Genji was a bitter, angry soul with nothing in his mind but rage and unanswered questions. Overwatch’s downfall only brought more chaos into him, and he ended up stumbling around for guidance at the Shambali monk’s metaphorical door.

The process was long and hard, but looking around himself now… sure, Overwatch is still technically illegal, their numbers are meagre at best and they have enemies right front and centre; but they were alright. His master and best friend is here. _He and his brother_ are alright as well.

It’s the best Genji has felt in a long, long time.

 

Hanzo is spared further teasing by the need to debrief Winston on their findings –the man they stole the database from belonged to an organization that dealt with several types of illicit trafficking and rumored to have had business with Talon, supplying advanced weapons and technology in exchange for hefty sums, or something that was not specified in the files but labelled only as ‘special goods’.

Ominous to say the least.

He runs into McCree again when he exits the meeting room, leaving Winston and Athena to decrypt the data, and one look at the cowboy’s face is enough to send him into a scowl.

“I’m assuming you want to join in the fun?”

“Naw, darlin’ wouldn’t dream of doing that to a man who can turn me into a pin cushion.” Despite the statement, Jesse’s smirk tells him he’s seen the picture at the very least. “Though I wish I coulda seen that in action. Goddamn.”

“Yes, well. You’re going to have to laugh at me for something else, cowboy.” Hanzo punches the other lightly in the shoulder as he passes him, no real bite in his words as he just leaves without waiting for a retort. He doesn’t catch the way Jesse’s stare lingers on his retreating back a little longer than usual as he walks away.

_Never thought you had it in ya, archer. Hot damn._

“See anything you like?”

Genji’s voice makes him nearly jump out of his skin. “Jesus, Genji. We oughta make you wear a bell or sumthin’ here on base. You’re gonna give me a heart attack, boy!”

“You didn’t answer my question~” the cyborg’s tone takes a sing-song quality that McCree isn’t sure he likes.

“I don’t know what yer talkin’ about.” And he really doesn’t. Well didn’t. Lena and Hana had been still giggling about the whole covert reconnaissance thing and they were saying Hanzo’s name, and he got curious –they’ve become sparring and drinking buddies over time, it was only natural to get curious, right? He didn’t expect one little phone picture to have much impact, but _damn_.

Jesse had never thought about it or cared, but he could appreciate a view when he saw it. There’s no denying Hanzo is an attractive man, resting bitchface notwithstanding, but that doesn’t mean—

 _Oh God, is Genji thinking—_ he doesn’t finish the thought.

He can feel Genji staring at him from behind the visor, and the cyborg doesn’t need to ask. “I promise, partner, it ain’t like that. I’m not interested in defiling yer brother or whatever. Honest!” he even raises his hands in a peace making gesture, like seriously, where did that even come from? If it’s a joke it’s a poor choice for one, he never thought anything along those lines. Sure, the little anecdote and the pic had him wondering in passing, but that’s just that… it’s not unusual to be able to appreciate when a guy is good looking, isn’t it? It shouldn’t be. Jesse had never even noticed before, and now he’s berating himself for even thinking about having noticed.

He’s left even more flabbergasted than usual when the cyborg only sends a metallic “Hmmm.” his way, and disappears, just as suddenly as he dropped in.

_What the hell was that about?_

Just when he thinks he understands the Shimada brothers, something different happens to make him reconsider.

 

The results from the complete decryption are worrying at best. This criminal organization is one of Talon’s major suppliers, and their trades have made Talon much stronger in terms of tech and ammunition. If they could eradicate this weed at the root, it would set their biggest enemy back a great deal. The intel gathered by Tracer and Hanzo reveals a potential hideout and base of operations, and a small assault squad is assembled.

McCree and Genji take the offensive once more, with Reinhardt as their battering ram and Hana as their fire support, Hanzo by the rooftops again as a lookout and to take out any backup that might be called during the operation. Both Dr. Ziegler and Zenyatta will follow closely behind to be on the defensive and tend to the team’s injuries.

They do not waste time on a stealthy infiltration, the transport drops them smack dab in the middle of the seemingly abandoned buildings and all hell breaks loose. Hanzo watches Genji expertly dispose of his opponents and only needing his help with one guy coming up behind him, that stops short when an arrow embeds itself in his neck. Jesse still has to unleash that peculiar trick of his –he never did elaborate on it after the first time, only half explaining about it being a pain in the ass, other times spouting stories about challenging Death to a staring contest and it blinking first– but the cowboy is still very much holding his own without it, courtesy also of Reinhardt’s impressive shield buying them precious time as a cover that doesn’t impair their field of vision.

Still, his blood briefly runs cold when he registers the meaning of the red dot before he really sees the man it comes from. He has the arrow nocked and ready before Genji’s voice can even reach him through the comms.

“Sniper!!!” _thwack_. “…nevermind.”

There’s a low, rich laugh after that. “Why thank ye kindly, darlin’, I reckon you just saved my bacon.”

“You’re getting sloppy, cowboy. Focus.” He allows himself to answer, smiling a little to himself before movement on the building in front of him catches is eyes. “D.Va, have you destroyed the weapon supply?”

“Affirmative!” the girls happily declares, “I got a clean view of the courtyard, currently deploying cover fire for the assault team.”

“Keep doing that. I detected movement on the building in front of me, it might be where they store the special goods mentioned in the database. Requesting permission to infiltrate.”

From the other end of the line, Winston contemplates. “Granted. Keep it recon only for as long as you can, don’t engage any hostiles unless necessary. If you find nothing of interest, destroy whatever the goods are and join the rest.”

The closer Hanzo gets, the clearer the sounds become. The people inside are disposing of evidence. At some point he believes he hears a shout. He rounds a hallway and men are going out, the guns in their hands still smoking from use. If there ever was a necessary reason to engage, avoiding a faceful of bullets sounds like the right one. He shoots before the first man can even take aim at him, but it’s one on five more. A bullet grazes his right thigh before he manages to dive for cover.

“I ran into armed hostiles!” he calls over the comm, “They seem to be disposing of whatever they don’t want us to find, I require backup!”

“Me an’ Zenyatta are the closest to ya, keep ‘em busy!”

The battle in the courtyard is almost over, anyway. Reinhardt has proven to be a magnificent tank, as usual, and Mercy did quick work of boosting him up when his barrier collapsed while Genji made sure the remaining attackers wouldn’t live to take advantage of the knight’s moment of vulnerability.

Hanzo is down to one arrow when McCree finally reaches him, and not a moment too soon: in an attempt to sneak past the enemy and get a good look at whatever they were trying to destroy, Hanzo found himself flanked. He braced himself for the shots, but there’s a tell-tale ball of light that swung itself at one of his opponent’s, making him miss and stumble back, and then a loud, careening mass comes crashing through the window, one strong  arm looping around his shoulder and forcing him to duck as the familiar gruff voice lets out three words.

“It’s high noon.”

At such close proximity, Hanzo can feel the hiccup in time even more clearly, his vision almost going dark as his breath seems to take a longer time going in and out, but it’s over when he blinks and all he is left with is a heavy feeling in his chest, the smell of gunpowder and McCree’s arm holding him up.

For a second, he thinks the choked gasp he hears is his own.

“You are wounded, friend, let me help you.” Zenyatta’s voice and the harmony orb coming his way do not distract Hanzo from what is now in his line of sight. When he grabbed to shield him from the Deadeye, McCree spun him sideways and now his eyes have a clear view of the room he was trying to get to, thanks to a dead body falling in and knocking the door back open.

Special goods. Screams. Destroying evidence. _Special_ goods.

“Fucking hell.” The cowboy’s poorly masked horror tells him that his teammates have noticed as well.

Hanzo stands back up to his full height and starts stepping in the room, while McCree taps his communicator. “T-This is McCree. We neutralized all hostiles.” He used to be in Blackwatch. He knows this type of operation. He’s _seen_ it in Deadlock. It doesn’t make it any easier to say. “It seems that the trade in ‘special’ goods this organization had with Talon is… h-human trafficking.” His voice trembles, but no one on the line calls him out on it, they’re all silent. “Whether for organs or slavery, we can’t yet tell. The… subjects appear to be all dead.”

“Not all of them.” Hanzo’s eyes zero in on a twitch from under a bed. He rushes inside, kneels and starts talking. “Hey.”

The little ball curled up under the bed seems to curl tighter at his approach. Understandable. The person –no, child, they’re too small– is probably in shock at this point.

“Don’t be afraid. You’re fine. Nobody will ever hurt you again.” He coaxes, hoping the child understands English. He briefly glances sideways at the omnic, “Zenyatta, if you would…”

“Of course.” The monk redirects his orb from Hanzo to the child, hopefully putting them slightly more at ease and diminishing whatever pain  they’re feeling. Hanzo hisses at the loss of the soothing sensation numbing his wound, but the child comes first.

McCree watches the exchange from the doorway, stunned. He’s never seen Hanzo be so gentle, not since the whole accidental breakdown over Genji almost dying some weeks ago, and that was a special situation.

“You’re fine. Everything is fine.” The archer coos, voice low and reassuring, “We’re going to take you out of here, back to your family. Nobody is going to hurt you.”

The child crawls out halfway through. “…promise?”

“Promise.” Hanzo smiles softly. He can see the little girl’s face. Her hair is matted with blood, whether it’s hers or from the other, less fortunate subjects and just dripped on her from over the bed is hard to say, but right now the priority is extracting her and getting her to Dr. Ziegler. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.” He assures, patting his left shoulder. “See this? It’s my dragons. They eat bad people who hurt children.”

 _You just keep bein’ full of surprises, archer._ Jesse takes one step forward, and offers his serape as the girl finally slinks out from her hiding place and stands with Hanzo’s help. She’s one torn rag away from naked, covered in blood and has some questionable bruises. The archer is grateful for his gesture, and the child hugs the serape tight to herself as soon as they drape it over her shoulders.

“We secured a live civilian. Female, age 5 to 7. Appears to be not too severely injured, but keep Dr. Ziegler at the ready.” Hanzo says over the comm. “There’s no excluding the possibility of abuse, physical or otherwise, the child shies away from touch and looks skittish."

“Brother…” Genji’s tinny voice does nothing to hide his concern.

“We’ll be fine. Let’s just get her to the transport, and then we’ll figure out who she is.”

The rest of the team doesn’t say a word, each of them in various states of contemplating the implications of a bruised young child covered in blood and rags in a room classified as “special goods”. She is wary of them all, and sticks close to Hanzo –the archer being the first human she saw act kind to her – but when it becomes apparent that she doesn’t really speak that much English, McCree is also allowed near, to translate to and from Spanish. That, and he gave her the sarape.

She’s still holding onto it for dear life.

Still, the team does their best to make the little one feel at ease, Zenyatta offering orbs to boost her tranquillity and Genji letting her poke and prod at his cyborg form, only to have his faceplate vents release sudden puffs of steam that would make her run back to Hanzo.

Her fear wouldn’t last long, though, and soon enough she’d be exploring again, tugging at Genji’s dark headscarf or looking up at Reinhardt’s giant form.

Touching down at Gibraltar was a tense affair. None of them had been in this situation before. Angela came forward, but the child –Estrella, they learned with McCree’s help – just hid behind Hanzo’s prosthetic legs at first.

“It’s okay, Angela is a doctor, she wants to help.” Hanzo says, looking at McCree for help getting the point across.

The cowboy nods at him and then smiles at Estrella, kneeling to lightly pat her on the head, “Todo está bien, Angela es una médica. Ella quiere ayudarte.”

And that’s when Hanzo has what he considers a pretty damn good idea. “McCree will stay with you so you can speak to Angela.” The utterly betrayed look on the cowboy’s face alone is worth it. Not to mention it’s actually a good idea to have someone to translate the questions Mercy might have to ask the child, so the archer doesn't really feel that guilty about dumping the responsibility on him, for now.

It’s also worth it to see Estrella visibly relax. Hanzo, McCree and to a lesser degree Zenyatta have been the first people to approach her without trying to hurt her in god knows how long, it’s only natural she’d be wary of anyone else in a new and unfamiliar environment.

Still, Hanzo is pensive as he retires back to his quarters after the debriefing. He is not surprised to see Genji follow him there.

“You are troubled, brother.”

Elephant in the room. He nods. “I wonder if what we did was truly the best choice. If the child wouldn’t have been better off had we brought her to the authorities.”

Genji scoffs with as much sass as it’s able to transpire through is visor. “Really, brother?” he asks, shaking his head and flopping down on the bed beside the archer, “Aside from the fact that the little munchkin basically imprinted on you, do you think the authorities would have given a damn about a lost child found in a warehouse?”

With the menace of a second crisis over everyone’s heads and disorders popping up left and right... most likely she’d be thrown in the nearest orphanage and then the good officers would call it a day. And that’s the best case scenario.

Still. He wouldn’t trust himself with a prairie dog, nevermind a child. Sure, he has the dragons, but they are independent, god-like creatures perfectly capable of taking care of themselves and mostly only seen in battle. “What the hell am I doing, Genji?”

“Fuck if I know, aniki.” Ever so supportive. _Goddamn it, Genji._ “For what it’s worth, though... I think you’d be a much better dad than our father.”

Hanzo’s reaction is so genuine and immediate that Genji wishes his visor had a built-in camera. He’ll have to speak to Angela about it when she has a second. His brother sputters and stutters in a way nothing short of hilarious.

“I’m not _adopting_ the child!”

He denies it with a bit too much vehemence and a bit too fast. Genji is merciful enough not to call him out on it.

«You really mean it, sparrow?» for some reason, switching to Japanese makes it easier to talk about. «I’m not so sure I believe that.»

«Well, you did have your hands full of taking care of me when no one else would.» the cyborg muses, sitting back up to stay shoulder to shoulder with Hanzo.

It would appear it’s the archer’s turn for dark humor. «Fat lot of good _that_ did.»

«Oh my God, brother!» The slightly metallic undertones do not disguise Genji’s laughter, just like the one Hanzo remembers. Different and new, but still the same. «Come on now, you only eviscerated me a _little bit_ and I still turned out great!»

«There’s something profoundly wrong with the both of us.»

Maybe. Or maybe they joke about it because if they didn’t, they’d be wallowing in misery about it, and the better option to move on is to start distancing themselves from what happened.

Eventually, Genji stops laughing and gets up. “Well. I’m going to see Zenyatta about our evening meditaton. You should get some rest, too. I’m sure the child is in good hands.”

“Most assuredly. Dr. Ziegler is nothing if not careful and gentle.” Hanzo finds himself saying, walking his brother to the door as they switch back to English. “Plus, McCree is with her.”

There’s a pause. For some reason, the archer can feel Genji smirking at him. He doesn’t understand what prompted the mischief rolling off the cyborg in waves, but it does not bode well. “And _that_ is reassuring, how?”

“You sang high praise of the cowman to me the entire time I’ve been here, and I cannot think him reliable?” he bristles, not really seeing where Genji is going with this but not particularly well disposed to let him make fun of his friendship with the gunslinger.

“Oh I know he’s very reliable, it is you who did not believe me at first.”

“Well, I do now. We’re good friends.”

“Uh-huh.”

“He shares a language with the child, it’s good that he’s by her side.”

“Of course.”

“Genji, where are you going with this?”

Hanzo’s narrowed eyes are not conveying much other than mild irritation. Hmpf. He should have known his brother wouldn’t be as easy to rile as McCree. For a grown-ass man, he wouldn’t know innuendo if someone bashed him over the head with it. Or rather, he knows it all too well, but never believes it to be genuine directed at him, jaded as he is by years in the yakuza. Then again, it occurs to him that Hanzo might also simply not have noticed the subtle looks McCree has been sneaking.

He walks around with his entire left side hanging out for “practicality”, for crying out loud.

Genji ponders saying something, but settles for a mild scoff. “Hmpf. You’re no fun.”

As the cyborg takes his leave, Hanzo is left wondering what the hell was that about, and mildly worried that he is missing some crucial piece of information his brother might be privy to.

Shaking his head, he decides to make his way to the medical bay. Angela should be about done with her tests and psychiatric evaluation. Maybe they’ll be able to get some food in the little munchkin.

He tries hard to stifle the smile that blossoms forth at the idea of Estrella making a mess out of a plate of chicken and dumplings and refusing to eat her vegetables.

_Damnit. It’s all Genji’s fault._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't have to translate the Spanish, do I? It's right there when Hanzo says it in English.
> 
> Also, Estrella means Star.  
> I know, I'm horribly cliché.


	4. Ties that Bind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The child starts meeting the team.
> 
> Thoughts start spinning in some dorks' heads.  
> We still got a long way to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And of course this was stupidly long.
> 
> Goddamn me and my inability to stop until my fingers are sated.  
> Idk.  
> This is my reference for the child, braid and all: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/7d/4b/d5/7d4bd5acf28c49d9f49f2d646c89c068.jpg  
> There's something incredibly cute about DadHanzo doing her hair for her, ribbons and shit.
> 
> Also, speech between [these] will be Spanish from now on.  
> I can't be bothered to translate long phrases

After getting a quick physical and getting cleaned up, Estrella sits with Angela as the good doctor asks her questions. They give her a white button-up shirt that fits her like a long dress and is way too big on the sleeves, but it’ll make do for now.

Tracer immediately signs up to make a quick supply run to get something to wear for the child, and Winston starts discussing temporary accomodations with the team, as well as rules and boundaries –no live ammunition in range of the child and the like. The kid doesn’t speak much, but if the way McCree chuckles at her choice of words is anything to go by, she’s got spunk.

Angela tries to offer her brightly colored ribbons to put her dark blonde hair in pigtails, and Estrella’s answer is a gruff “No necesito putas cintas en mi pelo, son estúpidas.”

The cowboy laughs and translates it as just “no, thanks” but Mercy knows better than to trust him. He’s got to wonder though, what will happen when the kid takes a good look at her saviour and notices that _he_ does wear a stupid fucking ribbon in his hair?

As if on cue, Hanzo comes in, no doubt to check on their charge –they haven’t talked about it, but between Estrella only trusting Hanzo ad only fully understanding McCree, it went unspoken that the two of them would be the ones to take care of her during her temporary stay at Gibraltar. With some questionable jokes coming from Hana that the cowboy would rather not repeat. Hanzo only lets her get away with it because he has a soft spot for the kid.

And now _he_ feels like the grumpy parent.

Wait, what the fuck.

He does his best to shoot down the ridiculous train of thought before meeting the archer’s eyes. “Howdy.”

“Hello.” Hanzo nods at him, and then leans his hands on his knees to bend down and meet the child’s gaze. “How are you feeling, Estrella?”

The movement brings the little girl’s attention to the golden headscarf that ties Hanzo’s hair in a bun, and for a moment she doesn’t say anything, looking from Mercy and her ribbons back to Hanzo. She suddenly feels self-conscious about what she just said and, with all the anger of a kid on the verge of a tantrum, she snatches one of the ribbons from Mercy’s hands and runs towards the archer, lifting her hands up in a silent demand for him to do her hair.

“What is this?”

The confused look on Hanzo’s face is all that it takes for Jesse to let loose a bark of laughter. “Well, the lil’ missy thought she was too cool for ribbons, but somebody just changed her mind, apparently!”

Mercy covers her mouth with her hand not to be caught laughing “Aww, that’s adorable.”

“Ribbons are cojos. Make it look cool, like yours.” She demands, trying to look fierce and scowling like her eyebrows are going to fall off.

Angela leans in to whisper to McCree. “I can already see a resemblance.”

The cowboy’s undignified laughter only makes the child scowl more. Hanzo also scowls at him, which in turn sobers him up pretty quick. Damn yakuza glare. The cowboy clears his throat, and Hanzo turns his attention back to Estrella.

“Of course, child. Come.” He motions for Angela and McCree to follow as well, and they take a seat in the rec room, Hanzo sitting on the couch with the light blue ribbon and Estrella in his lap, eyes closed as the archer combs his fingers through her hair, wondering for a couple seconds and then deciding to start on a simple braid. The child quickly falls asleep on his lap at his ministrations, under the mildly surprised gaze of his current conversation partners, and Hanzo speaks not too late after, as if he knew it would happen.

“Prognosis?”

“Oh, um...” Mercy is startled, but as of right now the child doesn’t have any next of kin on site and Hanzo is her impromptu caretaker, so she discloses her findings. “The good news is that there’s no signs of sexual abuse on her body...” the breath of relief that leaves Hanzo’s lips before he can stop it gets him even more brownie points in the doctor’s eyes, whether he realizes it or not, and she continues, “She’s been roughed up here and there, but most likely just as a consequence of her kidnapping and imprisoning, there are no lasting injuries on her body. As to how her situation impacted her psyche, well...” she pauses, “Just a preliminary conversation is inconclusive. The child is wary of new individuals and ready to bolt at any given moment, but that’s to be expected. She seems to have quite the headstrong personality, though, so it’s possible that whatever horrors she was exposed to didn’t traumatize her _too_ much. Hopefully she hasn’t really seen much. She wouldn’t tell me.”

Hanzo hums pensively. “What has she told you?”

McCree pipes in. “Rico, Jovita, Amauris, Javier. For a while she’d just say these four names. Eventually we worked out they were her friends –prisoners like her. Likely among the bodies in the warehouse, now.”

Well shit. “Anything else?”

“Not much. When we asked ‘bout when she was taken, she asked what month it is, and when we told her, she said she was taken away in winter. That’s like six months of captivity.” The cowboy says, producing a cigarillo from his pocket to put between his teeth but not lighting it yet, “When we asked if she knew what they wanted with her an’ the others, she said ‘parts’. Nothin’ more.”

“Organ trafficking was not far off the mark, then.” That’s a distressing perspective –and he’s an ex-yakuza crimelord, he’d know.

“Sure makes me feel better about offin’ all those bastards, eh, darlin’?”

Hanzo nods with a huff. “Stop calling me that.”

“Why? Shy in front of the baby, _darlin’_?”

«Fuck’s sake.» he pinches the bridge of his nose, just under his piercing, “Not you too.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Jesse doesn’t sound sorry at all. “It was just too easy to pass up.”

“Well I hope you had your fill, because the next stupid joke will see an arrow where you’d least want it.”

“Kinky. Can I stream it?”

All of them jump at Hana’s voice, Hanzo trying and failing to contain his reaction, as to not wake Estrella. She stirs, but doesn’t quite wake up yet.

Now, Angela has often been too engrossed in her projects to notice people around her, and the Lord knows how much Genji loves to scare McCree right out of his chaps, but Hana Song sneaking up on Hanzo Shimada? Priceless.

“It was a figure of speech Hana.” The archer says, pointedly ignoring the self-satisfied grin she sends him as she turns to Jesse.

“Yeah, yeah sure.” She pauses to briefly coo at how cute the kid looks while asleep, “Hey other uncle, you guys figure out which one of you is she gonna sleep with or what?”

Hanzo blinks at her as if she jst started talking about purple elephants. “I thought Winston arranged a guestroom for her?”

“Please.” Hana snorts. “She just got out of a place where they were keeping her _prisoner_ hoping to _sell her body parts_. And _you two_ got her out. She’s not gonna want to be parted from either of you.”

That’s something Hanzo was trying not to think about. What if they ended up not finding the child’s parents? They couldn’t get let her get too attached to them. Not the other way around –that was most definitely not a problem, no sir.

Hanzo gently nudges her “Estrella. Our friends prepared a room for you, do you want to sleep?”

“Qué?”

“Una habitación, Estrellita.” Jesse supplies, fighting the urge to grin as the little girls curls tighter in Hanzo’s chest.

“Is it your room?” she asks, winding her tiny fingers around the archer’s soulders.

“No, but I will be close by, I pro—”

“I don’t want it.”

The sheer venom in her voice as she disentangles herself and stands up is enough to surprise all the adults present.

Hanzo holds his hands up in a pacifying gesture. “I don’t understand, don’t you want a room all by yourself?”

For some reason, that makes her explode. “Tu me salvas y me dice que estoy segura, me traes en este puto lugar y me dan cosas sólo para volcarme en una vieja habitación de mierda? ¿Cómo es diferente de la gente que me tenía antes? ¿Me vas a vender también?” it’s quick-fire stream of Spanish that gets gradually more and more high pitched, and her fists clench at her sides as she looks angrily at Hanzo’s face.

McCree looks torn between scooping the girl in his arms and helping Hanzo out. “D’you need me to translate?”

“I think I get the general premise.” Hanzo jokes dryly, quickly turning his attention back to Estrella and offering his hand. “Okay. No guest room. You can sleep in my room.” He tells her, and she immediately lights up, all anger forgotten as she takes his hand, “But no more of that language, miss. I may not be fluent in Spanish, but I can guess what some things mean.”

“Yes. Okay. Y los burros pueden volar.”

McCree’s snicker tells the archer it’s not going to be so easy to have the little one correct her apparently hilariously foul mouth. Oh well. It’s not like it’s actually his responsibility. She’s only going to be here for a couple days. Then they’ll find her parents and get her home. Where her actual parents will deal with this.

In the meantime, he leads her by hand, pointedly ignoring the other’s remarks on how cute she is or how nice of him it is to take care of her and a million other nonsensical things he tunes out.

“Hello!”

“Damn it, Genji.”

Hanzo barely has time to react as Estrella instantly turns shy at the sight of the cyborg, hiding her face behind the archer’s tattooed hand.

“Do not be afraid little one, I was only here to wish my brother goodnight!” he assures, releasing his visor and making steam come out, finally showing his face to the girl, “See? I’m human underneath~”

“Brother?” she questions, tentatively coming out of her hiding place to look more closely at Genji, “Esto es tu hermano?” she asks, turning her face to the archer.

That’s a word he knows. McCree’s stupid pet names come in handy, for once. “Yes, hermano. Estrella, this is my brother Genji. You can say hi, he only looks scary, I can assure you he’s really not.”

“Hey!”

She looks at him for a long moment, then blushes and hides again behind Hanzo. “H-hi.”

It takes a second for the penny to drop. _Well, well, well. Somebody has a crush. This is adorable. And perfect blackmail to get Genji off my back._

If he were to be completely honest, Genji is hardly flattered that a 6 year old has a crush on him, and he’s more weirded out than anything. “Not a word, brother.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, suzume.”

“Yes, well.” the cyborg hastily puts his visor back on. “Goodnight, Hanzo.”

“Goodnight brother.”

And just before Genji leaps out of the room, in a tiny, much softer voice than what they’ve heard until now: “Buenas noches, Genji.”

Hanzo’s laughter is enough to cover the sound of Genji all but running away.

 

The following morning is Estrella’s proper introduction to the team. She immediately takes a shine to Reinhardt, seeing as the Gentle German Giant presents her a nice big breakfast as soon as Hanzo leads her to the kitchen asking what she would like to eat.

McCree is also immediately by their side, if only out of linguistic necessity –the archer is deeply glad for it, he would _not_ be able to do this by himself, language barrier or not, and he has learnt to trust the cowboy to have his back when they’re in trouble.

Apparently, this will be a true test to their teamwork.

“Eat, little one!” Reinhardt good-naturedly booms, “If you eat all of your food you get to become big and strong! Like me!”

The way Estrella pauses mid-bite speaks volumes about her thoughts on the idea of becoming a Reinhardt copy, and McCree laughs good-naturedly. “Well, not exactly, sugarpea.” He coos, pinching her cheek and retreating his hand before she can stab him with her fork, [He says you grow strong, love, not that you end up looking like him.]

“I don’t mind.” She tries, “Gracias.” The thanks is almost an afterthought, as if she was compelled by Hanzo’s more or less stern words about her language… or maybe it could have something to do with Genji briefly joining them to steal some fruit from the table and then saunter off; and wanting to look like a proper little lady for the cyborg.

Jesse doesn’t miss the way Hanzo has to bite his lip to hide his amusement. He maybe concentrates on the gesture a little too much, but it’s a slow morning. His brain hasn’t kicked into gear yet.

Washing up to face the day is an incredibly awkward affair. Hanzo doesn’t want to follow the little girl into the shower, if only to not give her the wrong impression, and he and McCree have to enlist Angela’s help again. Which is why the archer’s quarters are way more crowded than usual.

Tracer’s quick supply run from last night bore some clean shirts and pants, together with underwear and other essentials like a toothbrush, a comb and such. Hanzo prefers not to dwell on it, and just stays in the room at Estrella’s insistence, just as McCree does, his back turned to the bathroom door, beyond which Angela helps her wash and get dressed. Both sharpshooters look at each other, finding solace in not being alone in the surreal predicament.

“So. This is kinda awkward.”

“Mm.” Hanzo concedes, sighing softly, “I’ve had to babysit Genji plenty of times, but it wasn’t quite like this. Also, I’m clearly out of practice where caring for a child is concerned.”

“Jesus Christ, darlin’!” predictably, Jesse is startled into horrified laughter, “That’s terrible.”

“It was meant to be.” The archer retorts with a dark grin, and McCree nods in understanding. He has noticed the brothers’ tendency to crack dark jokes about Genji’s predicament. Nobody else on the team would ever dare to, but being the two directly interested parties, they get a free pass. It’s an unconventional way of coming to terms with a traumatic event, but at least they are speaking to each other and rebuilding their relationship. Jesse is more than willing to take some dark humor along with the win.

Estrella finally emerges, with a simple peter pan-collared white shirt, blue jeans, and white flat shoes. She looks like she doesn’t want to ask, but the way she’s still clutching the blue ribbon she had in her hair yesterday is pretty obvious.

Hanzo doesn’t make her ask. “Would you like me to tie your hair for you, Estrella?”

She nods and pretends not to be too happy about it. Once more, Jesse can closely observe the drastic change in Hanzo’s behaviour.

Sure, he’d gotten better with them over time, but he still was very stoic and reserved. His attitude towards the child is softer, more open and less intimidating. The reasoning behind it is easily understandable, but it’s still surprising for the cowboy to learn that the elder Shimada even has it in him to care about keeping a child comfortable.

“Ay, que linda Estrellita!” he coos as soon as the braid is done, and then offers to show her something amazing.

Winston doesn’t take too well being referred to as a talking monkey, but relents and laughs good-naturedly at Estrella absolutely freaking out about it for the better part of an hour. She still has to wrap her mind around Winston when Tracer comes back in her field of view.

“Ello, luv! Gosh you’re so cute now!” just like everybody else on base, she can’t stop fussing over the child’s adorableness, despite her getting grumpy every time and exclaiming she’s not, “Did Angela do your hair for you? It’s so pretty!”

Estrella smiles at that and proudly shakes her head, before pointing at Hanzo. Jesse struggles not to laugh. Out of all the looks to ever cross the archer’s face, the “Deer in headlights” one might just be his favorite.

“Hanzo, my man…” Hana starts, going on her tip toes to put an arm around his shoulder, “I’m gonna have to book you for the next time I stream with facecam!”

“What am I, your make-up artist? Style it yourself, I only know how to tie it so it doesn’t get in the way of a bow.”

“Uh-huh.” The Korean nods, undeterred, “You still managed to make her look cute. Are you going soft on us?”

“I’m not cute!” Estrella exclaims, around the same time Hanzo protests to not be soft in any sense of the word, albeit in a more controlled voice, and all the people in the rec room laugh heartily at the similarity in behaviour.

“Jeez, hurry up and give her something from your side, McCree!” Lúcio comments eventually, “Otherwise she’s gonna grow up a grumpypants like Hanzo.”

“Hey, whoa there, are ye tryin’ to imply something?”

“I don’t know, I’m still trying to figure out who’s the mom.”

“You’re dead ta me, Santos.” He really doesn’t mean it, and he gets it, it’s funny, but… he doesn’t know how comfortable Hanzo is with the team implying things about them. His friendship with the archer had a strange start and an even more tentative progression, he’d hate to ruin that because of stupid jokes. As such, he offers the flank so the majority of that kind of comments is directed at him.

Hanzo narrows his eyes at him a couple of times during the morning, but if he noticed that Jesse is doing it on purpose, he doesn’t say.

_“Agent Hanzo, Agent McCree, Agent Genji, your presence is required in the meeting room.”_

Athena’s call has Estrella’s hand tightening around Hanzo. She knows she’s not allowed in the meetings and she doesn’t want to be robbed of the two people who she trusts.

“Estrellita, mira.” McCree catches her attention with a whisper and a pat on the cheek, “You can stay with Reinhardt. Ask ‘im if he can bake you treats. Lúcio speaks Portuguese, so he’s gonna understand ya at least a little bit. They’re good guys. Vale?”

She leans into the touch, closing her eyes and nodding. “Vale.”

“Behave.” Hanzo reminds her, getting up from his seat just as Genji zips by in a flurry of metal and green.

 

“So.” Winston starts. “Athena is already scouring public databases with Estrella’s name, approximate birth date and blood type, but it’d go faster if she’d at least give us a surname. That being said, if she has any living family we’ll find it soon enough.”

Of course. Overwatch is no place for a child, after all.

“That being said, local authorities have had wind of the battle and are… unhappy.” The scientist sighs, he knows that to be unhappy about someone taking down a human trafficking ring is bullshit, but the body count is high, and local police forces can’t really be afforded to be associated with any of that. “They have agreed to be lenient since the operation put a significant chip in Talon activities in the entire territory, and they won’t expose us as long as we go back and, uh, clean up our mess. Quote-unquote.”

So, crime scene cleaning. Ah, the less glamorous side of Overwatch.

“It’s not an unfamiliar job for ex-yakuza, I can go.” Hanzo says, bare seconds before McCree’s protest.

“Aw shucks, it’s somethin’ I’m all too familiar with.” _Right._ McCree and his Blackwatch days. He never told Hanzo much, but what little he did share, in their post-training drinking sessions, was enough for him to draw some similarities to his old clan, at least in terms of ruthlessness.

“Nonsense. You’re the only fluent Spanish speaker on base at the moment, you need to stay and look after Estrella.”

“Ya mean like protecting her while she sleeps, fussin’ her hair an’ all those things _you_ ’ve been doing up ta now, darlin’?”

Touché.

“Actually…” Genji muses. “Zenyatta is fluent in several languages, considering they’re programmed into his system. We can babysit. Teach her to meditate, maybe mellow her out some.”

Hanzo looks sceptical. “Genji, he’d be gone for half the day, at most.”

“All the more reason not to make a big deal out of it, wouldn’t you agree, brother?”

The archer gives his brother a long once over. He’s getting that slightly petulant tone he’d always get whenever he really wanted something to go his way. Turning to look at McCree, he shares a sympathetic look with the cowboy, lingering over his apparently relaxed posture but faraway gaze, maybe reminiscing of even more ingrate jobs.

“Well, he’s going to need _some_ help in cleaning that absolute wreckage.”

“I can go with him!” Genji says, almost too fast. “I mean, the child only really trusts you, Hanzo, we cannot take you away from her yet.”

Okay, so whatever Genji wants is big enough that he’s willing to trade corpse disposal duty over it. The thought unsettles Hanzo. “…fine.” He says cautiously. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

He then looks at Winston for permission to be dismissed, and the gorilla nods at him, moving to discuss simple specs with the self-appointed crime scene cleaning team.

Upon his return to the rec room, he finds Estrella excitedly bouncing on the couch cushions from place to place, apparently playing “the floor is lava” with Lúcio and Reinhardt.

Reinhardt seems to be some sort of lava monster who reaches out to swipe at the feet of the careless travellers slipping off the safety of cushions.

“Are you guys having fun?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Han-zo?” his name still feels weird in the child’s accented voice. “Where is el vaquero?”

“She’s asking about McCree.” Lúcio helpfully provides, “Vaquero is cowboy.”

 _Good to know_. “He has to go on a quick mission with Genji, while I get babysitting duty."

“You say it like you don’t like it.” Hana remarks, plopping down on the couch not too far from where Estrella is still standing and grabbing a controller. “Heya. Want to play?” she offers to the child, when she sees Hanzo move to get his bow. She’s been teasing him about it the whole time, but the man could surely use some help. It’s not easy to have a child just suddenly sprung on you, especially one coming from a dire situation, with trust issues and who knows what other troubles. She's seen many children ending up alone and scared when she was back in Korea, and knows it's not an easy thing to see.

“Donde— where are you going?”

“Training. I have to practice to be good at stopping bad guys.” He answer curtly, trying not to succumb to the immediate puppy eyes.

“I want to go with.”

Hanzo shakes his head. “It’s not safe, Estrella. There’s weapons. Dangerous.”

Zenyatta, who had been informed by Winston that he was to replace McCree as the translator for the day, chooses that exact moment to float by. “Ah, maybe I could supervise and protect the child while you practice, Hanzo?”

“Well. We know who is the uncle who lets her get away with everything!” Hana remarks with a laugh, booting up her game and leaning back on the couch by herself. It’s Estrella's first morning at Gibraltar after her heroes brought her back, she’s obviously not going to want to be separated from Hanzo for too long.

 

Target practice doesn’t go as smooth as it could have, the archer worrying endlessly about anything, from the perfectly likely to completely unreasonable freak accidents, like the fear of firing a scatter arrow by mistake or, god forbid, the dragons somehow escaping his control and devouring the child. He’s pretty sure the slight tossing of energy within him is the twin dragons’ equivalent of telling him _Bitch, please_.

Jesse is going to laugh at him when he sees his latest score. The cowboy… he’s been of invaluable support to him so far. Not only with the child, but in general. Even after more or less bonding with the rest of the team, the disarming honesty they shared more than once over shots at the range or late night drinks in the kitchen made them much closer than Hanzo can imagine himself to be with anyone except his own brother.

And even that is debatable, considering his and Genji’s relationship just began patching itself up. He still remember, after the first few days, the incredulity with which Genji commented his attitude towards Jesse.

 _«_ _I thought you’d make some sort of comment about the hat or the belt, by now._ _»_ he had said,

_«_ _It would be foolish of me to make the mistake of judging by appearance alone a second time._ _»_

His reply didn’t deter the cyborg. _«_ _Come on, you want to say it._ _»_

_«_ _That belt buckle is ridiculous._ _»_

_«So you did notice it!»_

He still doesn’t know why he bristled so much in response to that. _«It’s not important.»_ he insisted, _«The cowboy spoke kind and insightful words to me, and that’s what I will base my opinion of him on. Not a ridiculous hat.»_

Truth to be told, he doesn’t really mind the hat. It suits Jesse’s personality, however much of that is bravado just to keep curious eyes away from what really matters. Sure, McCree is a chatterbox that could go on about nothing and last for hours, but he actually rambles so much nonsense to have an excuse not to actually reveal anything of importance about himself.

While Hanzo prefers silence and a chilly attitude to ward off prying and poking, the cowboy pretends to wear himself on his sleeve, letting people believe they’ve got him figured out when they actually don’t. It’s one of the things that intrigue him the most about Jesse.

He must be more tired than he thought, if he’s wasting time thinking about his teammate instead of finishing his practice session. Shaking his head, Hanzo lets loose his last blunted arrow and thanks Athena for the practice session before the projectile even hits his mark. It’s a mere half centimetre away from the bullseye, but the archer is still unsatisfied.

Far behind him, at the edge of the room, Zenyatta is floating in a corner, Estrella in his lap and absolutely thrilled to be floating off the ground as she chatters excitedly to the omnic in Spanish.

Hanzo allows himself a smile, wondering if she’d still be so polite to Zenyatta if she knew how close he and Genji are. Damn, his brother’s mischievous side is rubbing off on him.

He makes his way over to the two, and together they go back to the rec room, so that he can be sure Estrella is somewhere with no weapons, before briefly taking his leave to wash off the training’s sweat.

Yesterday’s wound on his thigh was barely a graze and Zenyatta’s orb brought it down to little more than a scratch, but he still feels kind of sore all over, and training on top of his bruises probably wasn’t a good idea.

Oh well. He powered through worse.

He catches a small bruise on his right shoulder, the one usually covered by his kyudo-gi, and goes back with his mind to the moment when McCree all but hauled him close to use his trick against their opponents. In any other situation, he would have been furious at being manhandled like that, but as it is, he can feel nothing but gratitude for the cowboy’s well timed rescue –which probably also saved Estrella’s life, since once Hanzo fell the criminals would have probably finished the job in the other room.

The archer brushes his hand lightly against the slight discoloration, and wonders if it’s  because of the pain that he can vividly recall the contact of McCree’s metal hand and the exact moment when he was bodily slammed into the cowboy’s arms.

He wonders how he and Genji are doing. Hopefully they’ll be back soon –he’s not comfortable by himself with the child. Ridiculous as it is, he’s really relying a lot on McCree for this.

If that means having to suffer through inappropriate “old married couple" jokes, then so be it.

It can’t be that bad, can it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up! Genji & McCree viscera cleanup duty!  
> And Genji creeping McCree out some more.
> 
> Not in a bad way though.  
> I just have this headcanon of the brothers actually becoming really protective of each other and well, Hanzo doesn't really have to worry because Zenny is a cinnamon bun, but Genji? Genji knows McCree is trouble and kind of does the big bad (little) brotherly threatening, because "just because you wanna touch his butt doesn't mean I'm gonna let you, you treat my bro right or you're gonna regret it, capiche?"  
> Idk stuff like that.  
> It's half past midnight here.  
> I should probably go to bed.  
> Bye for now.
> 
> Edit: Almost forgot. Estrella's outburst in Spanish: "You save me and tell me I'm safe, take me to this fucking place and give me things just to dump me into a shitty old room? How are you different from the people who had me before? Are you gonna sell me too?"
> 
> The, uh, "mira" is "look", "vale" is okay  
> "Y los burros pueden volar" means "And donkeys can fly"  
> ...and whatever little words I'm forgetting should be easy enough to guess


	5. Keep your friends close (so they don't steal your brother)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some settling in. Some reflection.  
> Nothing much, and yet many things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unconscious flirting is too much fun.  
> They were already flirting over the comms during the mission, but it was more subtle.  
> Wonder how many people caught that.  
> Either way, I love these dorks.  
> To clear it up once more: «this» is Japanese and [this] is Spanish.  
> I'm too lazy for translations.  
> Also I'm not fluent in either.  
> I might still drop the odd word here and there, like "Aniki" or "Vale" and stuff, but those are easy.

 

Clean-up duty is boring, even when it’s piles of rubble and corpse disposal –well, maybe not for the average person, but Genji and McCree have seen their fair share of this type of scene, and then some, so the enemy remains are hardly worth a second look when they dump them all in the appointed truck that will take them to a burner.

Jesse has learnt the hard way that it’s much better to simply not wonder. Not that it stops him from doing exactly that, when they finally reach the room they found Estrella in.

Some of the bodies are young, younger than Hana is –again, it’s nothing new, but it doesn’t get any easier just for that. Jesse sighs behind the bandana he wrapped around his mouth, as they get to work with the body bags.

“Something is on your mind.” It’s not a question, and the cowboy knows better than to evade. Ever since coming back from Nepal, Genji has become much more perceptive than he was… or maybe he just started putting the senses he once took for granted to good use.

Either way, Jesse nods. “Y’know, we managed ta get the little munchkin out, but…” he zips up the last of the zipper with a bit more force than necessary, “A man wonders… I coulda been faster. Shot earlier. Looked harder. And maybe more children woulda been alive now.”

The cyborg does indeed know. And he also knows that McCree is not simply getting sentimental on him, it’s something they both were desensitized to a long time ago, but the random chance of having one survivor on their hands has a way of reminding you of the more painful side of that reality. “Jesse McCree? Going on about what ifs? My, my, you sound like my brother.”

Not that that means Genji isn’t going to be a little shit about it. He knows his friend well, tempering serious talk with bad jokes is the best way to get him to unwind a little. Jesse laughs a little and punches him in the shoulder.

“Whoa now, that was uncalled for!”

They share some more laughter over using Hanzo as a parameter for overthinking things, but then Genji settles down as they round up the last of the bags. “Really, McCree, you know better than anyone that it doesn’t do anyone any good to think like that.” He says, gentle even through the metallic quality of his new voice, “What was lost doesn’t come back just because we think we could have done something different.”

The cowboy picks up on the shift. Of course he does. “Yer not talking about me anymore, are ya?”

Genji tilts his head at him. “Guess not.” He admits, as they clean out the room and get the steam machine going to get the worst of the blood off the floors. “You know… I’m not entirely blameless for… this.” He adds, gesturing to all of himself, “So many times he tried to steer me, warn me, but I was so consumed in my obstinacy, rebelling about the tiniest thing, always contrary… so many things I could have seen sooner, _should_ have seen sooner.”

The silence between them is only interrupted by the soft whirr of the cleaning equipment doing its work, as they wait for it to be over. “Wondering about it is just not worth it. We’re in the here and now, and I won’t make the mistake of not living it. I have my brother again, I have you guys… and that’s all the family I need.”

“Aw shucks, Genji, yer gonna make me blush.”

At least the bitterness from the grim task is finally lifted.

“We should get back soon. My brother was terrified at the idea of tending to the child alone.”

Jesse nods at the cyborg. “Can’t say I blame him. Kid could start an argument in an empty house.” Estrella’s short fuse brings a fond smile to his face, and it becomes even fonder when he recalls how quickly Hanzo caved about her being in his room, if only to calm her down.

“Speaking of that. Which one of you is the mom?” Genji might be on the path for enlightenment and inner peace, but never did his Master tell him that there’d be no room for friendly teasing.

McCree knows better than to rise to the bait, though. “Dunno, but ya seem to be the uncle she’s got a crush on.” Fighting fire with fire. “I knew you were a heartbreaker way back when, but goddamn.”

Embarrassment makes literal steam come out of his vents as he smacks both hands on his visor. “You picked up on that?!”

“Aww, it was just adorable how she was slumped over breakfast one moment and then the second you walk in she sits up all prim and proper.”

“Children are bothersome.”

The machine is just about done, and they busy themselves with taking down the equipment and backtracking out. “You would know, you bother me all the time.”

“Sounding _more and more_ like my brother, cowman.” Ouch, the annoyed-Genji nickname. McCree half expects him to get angry, but the cyborg just deflates. “How do I get her to stop?”

“Fraid you can’t, pardner.” Jesse shrugs, “It’s just puppy love anyway, she likes yer face and wants to be praised and petted over the head ‘n stuff. Y’know, like a...”

Like a younger sibling crying for attention. The way the cowboy stills tells Genji that Jesse might have taken the reasoning and run away with it. He himself is struggling with a similar realization.

Being a difficult child, getting into trouble, fights and making a nuisance of himself in every way possible, all but forcing his big brother to keep his attention on him at all times.

Okay, so maybe he did have a slight brother-complex. He’s not going to let McCree tease him about it. “Hm-mm. How about you? You and my brother are pretty much her heroes, right?”

“Yeah well, she latched on Hanzo, fer sure.” Mercifully, Jesse drops the topic, probably storing it away for funnier times, “Not that I blame the kid, if there was anyone I’d trust to not let my sorry hide get inta trouble, it’d be the archer.”

He isn’t sure if he’s really seeing Genji’s visor glow a little brighter or if it’s just a trick of the light. “Oh? That’s a stark difference from what you originally thought of him.” The cyborg muses, his voice taking on a pitch that Jesse knows does not bode well. “Actually, you’ve grown quite close in this couple of months.”

“Well, ya know how it is…” Jesse honestly can’t tell if there was a slightly dangerous note on the last statement or not. “Sniper buddies. We ended up getting’ along.”

“I’ll be honest with you, McCree. My brother… he wasn’t in a good place when he came to Gibraltar. He could use a good friend. I’m nothing if not glad that you can be that for him.” Genji reveals, skimming over the detail of their arguments in Japanese, where Hanzo would yell at him to get the ridiculousness over with and grant him his death when it got particularly bad, “He doesn’t get close to people too easily.”

“Hey now, I think he got plenty better.”

“Thanks to who?”

Praise his shooting abilities, and Jesse won’t shut up for days. Praise his looks, he’ll wink and declare himself a charmer. Praise his connection with another human being? Jesse McCree becomes bashful.

“I, uh…” he scrambles for something to say. He remembers their first drinking session together. The look on Hanzo’s face as he scrubbed and scrubbed at his hands. The pang in his chest at the feeling of familiarity. “Been there. Didn’t enjoy it much. Being there for the fella seemed the right thing to do.”

He remembers several more training/drinking session. The easy banter, answered with brief but razor-sharp quips if you get the archer going enough. Amusement filtering through the stoic façade, in the dim light of a deserted kitchen, miles away from the self-loathing of the first few nights. Jesse’s expression grows fond.

It’s when he hears a sharp if slightly distorted intake of breath that Jesse is started out of his reminiscing. “I knew it!” Genji exclaims, physically pointing a finger at him as they board the transport, “You were _daydreaming_ about _my brother_!”

“No I wasn’t!” too quick, too high pitched and kinda scratchy. Not very believable, cowboy. “I was just… rememberin’ a couple things.”

“Uh-huh, and would any of those things be illicit thoughts about my brother?”

“Illicit— Genji!” he’s suddenly glad he didn’t remove the bandana yet, because the warmth creeping up on his face sure feels like a blush, and he’s not about to give Genji the satisfaction. Sure, Hanzo is admittedly nice to look at, but… “It ain’t my fault that yer brother walks around giving the entire world a constant eyeful!”

They learn today that cyborgs can snort. Pretty loudly at that. “Yes, well. I’ll concede that point.” He says, clearing his voice, “But it stands to fact that you did sneak peeks.” He is accusatory, but his voice is still amused, and Jesse doesn’t take it too seriously.

“Is this the part where you threaten to break my legs if I’m not all proper and gentlemanly with your bro?”

“You know what? I think it is.”

That escalated quickly. McCree will never understand how the Shimada brothers can go from teasing fun to icy seriousness in the span of half a second. But he clears his throat anyway. “Um, well. It’s a good thing we’re not like that, then.” He mutters, “I mean, I don’t… but even if I did –and I _don’t_ …” is he stressing too hard the fact that he never thought about Hanzo like that? He feels like he needs to make it very clear, “Look. I really like and respect yer brother, both as a teammate and as a… friend? Acquaintance? Look I don’t know. Either way yeah. We’ve gotten close and I like that we’re close. But I’d never…”

“Make a move on him?” Genji finishes for him, voice much lighter after apparently having received a satisfactory answer from the cowboy. “That’s good. I know your type, Jesse McCree.” He jokes, “You fancy yourself a heartbreaker; but my brother is _not_ your ‘love ‘em and leave ‘em’ type.” And then, in a stern voice that could be emulating said brother, “Do I make myself clear?”

“Jesus Christ, Hanzo, I already told you I’ll be good!”

Silence.

Jesse all but hides his face in his hat. Genji looks incredibly smug, which shouldn’t be possible through the mask.

“You called me Hanzo.”

“…no?”

“You were thinking about my brother so much that you said his name when talking to me.”

“Don’t blow this outta the ballpark, it was just the scolding, ok? Yer voice got all authoritative an’ shit, like his does.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Honest!”

“I have my eyes on you, cowman.”

“Stop being a brat!”

Genji keeps teasing McCree about his slip-up all the way back to base, insisting that just maybe, he’s starting to be more interested in Hanzo than he himself is willing to believe, and Jesse retorts that it’s absolutely not true and it’s just the close proximity they’ve been in during the last couple of days because of the child they rescued. The cyborg eventually concedes, with a “We’ll see” that sounds way more ominous than the brat has any right to be, but the subject eventually drops.

It’s well past sunset when they finally get back to base, and when they reach the common areas Tracer all but zips to them and motions to them to be quiet. “Don’t make loud noises!” she hisses, “Come see!”

Lena leads them, slowly and stealthily, to the rec room with the big couch and the television. There, sprawled without a care in the world, there’s a rare sleeping Hanzo, arms draped around Estrella’s small frame as she’s curled up on most of his torso and thighs, forehead safely tucked underneath the archer’s bearded chin. Add to that the fact that her tiny fist is unconsciously clutching a segment of Hanzo’s head scarf that just so happened to drape over his shoulder, and the scene becomes too adorable to contain.

Genji is the first to crack. “I’m _so_ asking Torbjörn to build me a camera for the visor.”

“I heard that, sparrow.” None of them expected the stern if somewhat groggy retort, and for the umpteenth time McCree jumped because of a Shimada. “Don’t worry, she’s not going to wake up anytime soon, she’s exhausted.”

That makes Jesse worry slightly more than he’d care to admit. “Why, what happened?” he asks, instinctively moving to the side of the couch as he sees Hanzo moving to get up, to help him maneuver Estrella back down without waking her.

“I left her under Zenyatta’s care while I trained, then went to wash myself and when I came back she was fast asleep. Probably a consequence of attempting meditation.” He recounts with a smile, recalling how strange and funny the omnic sounded, speaking in perfect Spanish to the child, “We figured we should let her sleep and left her on the couch to go about the rest of the day, but not even an hour in we’re all drawn back here by the screams.”

Nightmares. Of course.

“Hana was the one who recognized the panic attack. Said she saw it one too many times.” Aaaand there it is. More guilt on the archer’s eyes and in his voice. Jesse wonders if this man will ever stop thinking that everything that goes wrong is on his shoulders. “It took me and Zenyatta several attempts and twenty minutes with an orb of harmony to fully calm her down. Angela’s guess is that the reality of having been ripped away from family and being all alone finally caught up to her, and waking up alone on a couch scared her over the edge.”

He looks down at the floor briefly, his own sense of responsibility churning and conflicting with a more soothing energy. Somebody in there trying to tell him that it wasn’t his fault.

“Poor little munchkin.” McCree coos, brushing a sneaky hand over the child’s hair without waking her. Genji smiles behind his visor, and then gets a good look at how this entire moment looks like. The remark is on the tip of his tongue, but he bites it back, because he has to admit, these two are a good team.

It takes a good deal of adaptability to take joint care of a human life. Tracer catches him looking, apparently, because she offers him a complicit smile that he doesn’t fully get yet, but before he can ask, she speaks. “We saved some dinner for you guys, since we didn’t know when you’d be back.”

“Yes, you should eat.” Hanzo agrees, standing up, “I’ll get Estrella to my room and come back.”

“Naw darlin’ you’ve done enough for one day, you guys get going, I’ll bring the munchkin up ta her room and join y’all.” Jesse gently takes the child from the archer’s arms before he can really protest. She stirs, and he coos gently to her in Spanish. [Oy, Estrellita. I’m back. Jesse is back. I’ll take you to Hanzo’s room and tuck you in, alright?]

She’s too sleepy for anything except a sleepy “vale”, and Tracer has to put a hand on her mouth to suppress the “awwww” sound.

Hanzo is also looking very intently at the corner of the tale, like it’s more interesting than anything in the room. It tells Genji he’s trying not to smile. “McCree.”

“Hm?”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Dunno what you mean, darlin’.”

“That! I’m not your 'darlin’.”

“Psh, everyone here is my darlin’. That includes you, archer.”

«Oh, for the love of—» he doesn’t argue further, if only not to raise their voices above whispers, at least until Estrella is safely asleep in his room. “Fine. Just go.”

Only when the cowboy turns and walks away from them does the archer lift his gaze to look at the retreating form. At least he’s back, stupid pet names or not. Not only he’s the other one to have Estrella’s full trust, he’s also much more apt at the whole friendly interaction thing.

Easy to smile, easy chatter, easygoing personality, easy on the eyes.

 _Wait what._ Hanzo does a slight double-take. It’s not like that. Jesse has a reassuring face, yes that’s what he was thinking. It’s easy for the child to trust the cowboy’s smiling, friendly expression and outgoing chatter. That’s it.

 _Really? Is that really it?_ The voice posing the question in his head sounds suspiciously like Genji. He decides to ignore it as he heaves a deep sigh once Jesse is fully out of sight. “I’m going to poison his dinner.”

Both Tracer and his brother burst out laughing. “Why are you so hung up on the pet-names thing, luv?” Lena asks, still giggling good-naturedly, “It’s not that bad.”

Hanzo blearily rubs the last remnants of sleep out of his eyes. “You’d say that. You call everyone ‘luv’.”

Unexpectedly, Genji comes to his metaphorical rescue, metal hand brushing his brother’s shoulder as they all walk to the kitchen to get started on reheating dinner. “It’s a cultural thing, Lena.” The cyborg explains, “Where we come from, pet names are only for immediate family or lovers. Not friends.”

“Well, we do make a family of sorts, don’t we?”

The statement cuts deep into Hanzo without meaning to. “I…” he starts, opting to busy himself with helping them get a couple dishes out of the cupboard for when the spicy fajitas finish reheating, “It takes a bit of time, for me to…” he gives his hands a quick wash when he sees some sauce spilled onto them from where he handed Lena the pan, and has to make a conscious effort not to scrub too hard, as he feels Genji’s eyes on the motions.

Tracer’s heart falls a bit, but not because the archer’s reluctance offends her. “Oh, luv…” she says, “That’s quite alright, you don’t have to explain it.” The reassurance is nice, but Hanzo is still not used to being on the receiving end of affectionate words, so he just clams up more as she goes on, “Nothing wrong with needing some space, you’ll feel at home here in your own time.”

“Then again, maybe it’s better if he doesn’t, considering what he did to his previous one.”

Lena looks absolutely horrified by Genji’s joke, paling a good few shades, and yet it’s all it takes to make Hanzo let out a laugh.

“Now, brother, don’t be shy, you contributed to messing it up as much as I did.”

She relaxes minutely when she understands that it’s some kind of inside joke between the two brothers, but it doesn’t really take away from the gasp that escapes her at the cyborg’s next retort:

“Spilling my insides on the floorboards doesn’t count.”

“That’s disgusting, Genji.”

“And still you love me.”

The room becomes silent. Genji had honestly expected Hanzo to keep the joke train going, maybe with a quip about how he didn’t at all, hence the maiming and slicing, but instead his brother falls silent. He can see the gears in Hanzo’s head turning as if he was the cyborg, lowers his face towards the table and it’s all he can do not to stare. Lena tries very hard to disappear and pretends she’s stirring the food, that doesn’t really need that much attention, considering it just has to get warm enough to taste good again.

“I suppose… we haven’t said that in a long while.” Roundabout and guarded. Like all the other times they talked seriously about any of this, Hanzo always has to be coaxed into exposing his feelings, like he doesn’t quite believe nothing bad will happens if he does –or rather, that he won’t be berated for daring to have them after his ‘crimes’. Still, it’s there. It’s in the hand that pats the back of Genji’s head and motions him to take a seat. It's in the way he prompts “Eat.”, not so subtly sliding the red pepper bottle towards him, as he’s come to know that Genji now needs quite a kick to properly taste things, “And don’t make that face at me, I’ve already embarrassed myself enough for one day.” It's there.

“Really now? How come?” McCree reappears just in time to help Tracer put the now steaming fajitas in the plates, and to hear embarrassing conversations – _obviously_.

“The ladies took the chance to film me make a fool of myself to calm Estrella down. Apparently it was ‘cute’.”

Jesse laughs at the absolute disdain Hanzo pronounces the word, seemingly appalled at the very idea of associating it with himself. He turns to Lena. “Did he sing her to sleep, too?”

“Yes! Oh my God it was the cutest thing, she would rock the tiniest bit back and forth, Hana has the video, and—”

Hanzo clears his throat. The chatter ceases.

«See?» the remark is casually let out between mouthfuls: «You can totally be a dad, brother.»

“Genji!” he looks angry, but he lets it go, floored by Genji’s easy-going bark of laughter. He hadn’t realized how much he missed it, even before their falling out. Things had been tense for years already. Only now, only here they’re finally able to live as themselves, with no expectations of grandeur or propriety, no heirs and seconds, just brothers. It’s a strong enough feeling that he just drops his indignation and shakes his head.

“Been meanin’ ta ask, though…” Jesse says, digging in as well, “What’s it mean? The song…”

“It speaks of family.” The archer says, silently glad for the more superficial shift in topic and impressed that the cowboy caught his emotional reaction. “Protecting someone from hurt, easing their suffering, bearing burdens together… things like that.”

“You make it sound depressing, aniki.”

“I’m not in the mood for a full translation.”

“It’s okay, I’m pretty sure miss Song will have looked it up by now.”

“That girl has way too much energy.”

“Your point being?”

Hanzo just flops down on the chair opposite to Genji and throws his head back with a huff.

They keep talking and joking around a little while longer, two of them eating their late dinner and the other two keeping them company, easy atmosphere facilitated by the late hour and dim lights.

Tracer is the first to turn in for the night, having been awake since very early in the day and slightly messed up by her peculiar condition, then there goes Genji –who tonight actually has the courage to hug his brother goodnight, and Hanzo doesn’t push him away.

McCree walks with him all the way to his door, considering his own quarters are a bit farther along. “See?” he suddenly says, remembering one particular conversation, “It is that easy.”

“Maybe.” Hanzo concedes in a whisper, opening the door and looking in to check on Estrella’s sleeping form.

It’s out of Jesse’s lips before he can think of how it sounds: “You want me to come in?”

Rationally, Hanzo knows McCree is offering to stay to help keep an eye on the little girl who just had a panic attack. Practically… Genji might be rubbing off on him more than one would think. “Excuse me,” he says, in mock offense, “I’d expect a nice dinner and drinks, first, at the very least. Then we can talk about you following me to bed.”

The look on Jesse’s face is priceless. “Wha— no! I wasn’t— I mean—” he stutters for a moment before recognizing the self-satisfied smirk on the archer’s face. “You…”

“Consider it payback for the pet names, _cowboy_.”

The door to the room gets shut in said cowboy’s face pretty fast, but he’s left standing there and pretty damn sure that Hanzo Shimada, _the_ Hanzo Shimada, grumpy archer that never does anything funny, ever, just winked at him.

Jesse has to slap himself on the cheeks a couple of times, shake his head and remind himself of the way Tracer described him on their recon mission. It was an act, to one-up him and tease right back. He did say he wished to see it in action, and now he did.

_Hot damn, though._

 

The following morning sees a brief meeting for all of them –they make an exception and let Estrella in the room since it’s not anything too terribly critical– and Winston informs them that, in wiping out that weapon/human trafficking ring, they have indeed cut back a lot on Talon activities, and can expect a lull in the action for at least a few weeks, until the terrorist organization goes and finds a new supplier at the very least –which means little to no missions, at least not any involving heavy combat.

Granted, Talon will come back at them harder and angrier, but hopefully they’ll be better equipped and prepared by then. There’s only one little disruption during the whole discussion, where Estrella decides that Zenyatta and Genji are sitting too close and leaves Hanzo’s side to wedge herself between them, only to blush furiously and hide her face in embarrassment as Genji pats her head and asks what’s wrong. Zenyatta picks up on the slight hostility and tells her something in Spanish that has McCree hide his laughter under his hat. It sparks Hanzo’s curiosity, but the child eventually agrees with whatever it is the omnic told her and accepts settling in his lap somewhat grumpily as Zenyatta plays with her braid.

The skinny of the meeting is that, barring any special call or info worth researching poping up, the focus of the next few days will be to try and track down Estrella’s family. During the previous day, Zenyatta managed to get the surname Tavares from her as they spoke, but a quick search of her parents’ names produced them both long dead. Searching for aunts and uncles is going to take some more time, considering the possible derivations, but it will eventually be done.

Group dismissed, they go on about their day as they normally would, only with a child in tow. Zenyatta and Genji are about to go out towards the forest for their daily meditation, and Hanzo remembers the extended invitation. It would be good, if only to relax his aching muscles –he hasn’t had a proper rest ever since they returned from the mission, and sleeping curled up on a couch with a child on his chest didn’t do him any favors last night.

“Could you stay with her?” Hanzo asks McCree, tone low and cadenced, as if he feels bad about leaving the little girl’s side, “I was thinking of joining my brother and Zenyatta for their meditation.”

“Sure thing, darlin’, don’t cha worry.” the cowboy assures, with a pat on his back, “I’ll take her to see the outside of the base, maybe play on the beach some.”

“I immediately regret this decision.” The archer’s fingers once more pinch his nose just under the piercings, his expression bordering on exasperated, and it makes Jesse laugh.

They both ignore Hana’s passing remark about being “such dads”. The young gamer just pops by to grab her snacks and go back to her room to stream whatever videogame she’s on at the moment anyway.

“Relax.” He prods, tipping his hat and lowering his head in an attempt to have Hanzo meet his eyes –not an easy feat, considering the man is a full head shorter than him– “I’ll keep good watch.”

“You let Genji take you by surprise.”

“He’s a ninja!”

“He has _metal feet._ ”

The cyborg pipes in at that point in their back and forth: “Hey! That was uncalled for!”

Jesse feels the need to make a point: “Also you have metal feet too, and yer still the sneakiest son of a gun to walk this side of Gibraltar.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Hanzo allows himself a little smirk, at that.

“And I’ll take Estrellita away before she can catch you ego, after yer attitude.” He turns to the girl and asks her in Spanish if she wants to see the beach. Predictably, she beams and all but runs into McCree’s arms.

She pulls on Hanzo’s headscarf when he simply says goodbye to her, and keeps pulling until he gets the message and lowers his head enough for her to kiss his cheek. Remembering McCree’s advice about indulging the kid, Genji decides to be cheeky and asks if he can have a kiss too, which makes Estrella blush like a tomato and the onlookers chuckle, but no one can say it’s not heart-warming when Estrella does kiss Genji’s cheek after he takes off his visor, paying no heed whatsoever to scars and marred skin.

Angela promptly declares it the cutest scene ever since the sleeping duo on the couch, and the cyborg does go for his meditation feeling a little better about his face.

Trying not to worry too much about all the worst case scenario of McCree running amok on the beach with a child in tow, Hanzo follows his brother with better thoughts than he had days before.

All things considered, Estella's presence, however brief, seems to be doing good for them.

Hopefully they’ll be able to do good for her, too.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing much happens here, for that I'm sorry.  
> I have some ideas to try and pick up the pace, but I have to be careful on how I spin them.  
> Next up: the obligatory "I saw you brother you were flirting" "was not" "was too" situation.  
> Possibly some Zenyatta to tell them to stop being little bitches. Idk I haven't really thought about the full chapter yet, I only have some scenes in mind, but how it will write up to those is a mystery to me as well.  
> Oh well.  
> Until next time! :)


	6. Several degrees of meddling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternate title for this chapter would have been "Damnit Genji."
> 
> The youngest Shimada keeps on being a little shit. Not that the older one is any better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUCKING HELL this took long.
> 
> Hopefully it'll be the last chapter I spent dilly-dallying and thing will finally move forward a little bit.  
> I'm not 100% sure of the direction this wil take yet, but I have some key notes and points.  
> I just have to be careful about how I string it all together.  
> Idk, here. Have it.  
> I love Genji. And Zenyatta's sass gives me life.

Meditation with Genji and Zenyatta is a tranquil affair. Hanzo is uneasy at first, but with some help from the omnic’s orbs he manages to focus on positive thoughts rather than wallowing in the negative, and he manages to keep his concentration for a good while. He finds his centre and spends an indefinite amount of time with nothing but a warm white light in his head and chest; he actually only snaps out of it the moment he has the conscious realization that it was working.

The archer opens his eyes with a gasp, hearing the chirping of birds in the distance and turning towards it, as if it hadn’t been already going on. Genji peeks at him from under his visor and chuckles.

“I’m sorry, did I distract you?”

The cyborg shakes his head at his brother’s words. “No, it’s fine.”

“I think this is a good time to end our session.” Zenyatta supplies, floating down to them, “How do you say? Stretch your legs for a while?”

That might be a good idea. The awkward knee angle feels numb where the prosthetics meet flesh. The trio sets on a slow walk back towards the base, enjoying the beauty of the mild spring day. Despite his past prejudices about omnics and sentient machinery, Hanzo is finding a certain degree of solace in attempting to get to know Zenyatta –the monk has been a significant part of his brother’s life for a long time now, and any reconciliation he might hope to have will have to go through accepting the people that are in Genji’s life now and finding common grounds among them. So far, the archer walks at a relaxed pace, massaging his own neck with his hands until Genji comes up behind him and replaces his brother’s hands with his own.

“So, brother…”

“I’ve had nightmares that started with such words.”

If he wasn’t positive that omnics do not have nasal cavities, Genji could have sworn Zenyatta discreetly snorts at Hanzo’s immediate diffidence. “Ah-ah, brother, you’re not going to manipulate me into changing the subject with your grouchiness. I saw that.”

“What.” The archer asks, admittedly not seeing where the other is even going with this, “What did you see?”

“You were _flirting_.”

For a split second, Hanzo’s outraged surprise is genuine. “Nani?! What the— with who?!”

«Really, brother? Do you want me to say it out loud?» the cyborg’s voice takes on the same mischievous quality that it had two days ago and finally, _finally,_ Hanzo connects the dots.

«You mean— You think I… it’s _not like that_!» and it really isn’t, the archer was just giving the cowboy a taste of his own medicine and not taking any of his bullshit. Their little moment in front of his door last night notwithstanding, that also was just payback for making fun of him… and if he guiltily enjoyed flustering the usually shameless cowboy a little too much it’s nobody’s business. Right?

«Isn’t it? It surely seems like that for McCree.» Genji counters, pinching his exposed shoulder, «He never has his eyes quite up to eye-level when you’re around.»

Hanzo doesn’t flinch, but he does bat his brother’s hands away. «Quit that, we’re not children anymore.» he scolds, as they keep walking alongside each other, «Also, you’re being ridiculous. He’s just sticking close to me to look out for the child, we were only talking.»

«Oh he’s looking out for something, alright.» Hanzo’s unamused look doesn’t deter Genji, and he jogs a couple of steps forward to then turn towards the archer and stop him in his tracks. «Only talking sure, calling you ‘darlin’ and standing _this_ close.» he traps his brother by grabbing his arms, tilting his head down just enough to mimic the distance Jesse and Hanzo were at, as they spoke about taking child to the beach a few hours ago. They’re close enough that, if Genji were to take off his visor, he’d only have to lean a little bit forward to kiss his brother on the nose.

For a good couple seconds, Hanzo adverts his gaze and says nothing. When the cyborg doesn’t let him go, he sighs. «You’re being a creep, Genji.» And he splats a hand on his brother’s visor to get him to back off.

«Hey come on! I’m trying to help you out!» Genji complains loudly, and follows as his brother picks up the pace, «You’ll tell me if he starts saying indecent things to you, right?» a thought crosses his mind. It’s not very likely, considering the amicable way Hanzo has interacted with McCree until now, but he decides better safe than sorry, «Do you not like him back? If you want him off your back I can tell him off—»

«No, Genji!» the archer’s rebuttal is more out of frustration than anything, but he becomes aware of how it comes across as soon as it’s out of his lips, and his face colors. «Look. I… don’t _dis_ like him. He is a good friend. We’re helping each other with this whole situation, and… he is an interesting person. I do not know more than that.»

“Hmmmm….” Genji seems unsatisfied with this. Hanzo has to admit he is oddly touched by his brother’s protectiveness and the way he seems to genuinely want what’s good for him. «…but do you want to touch his butt?»

…nevermind.

«Damnit, Genji.»

“If I may…” Zenyatta floats up to them, coming to serenely hover in mid-air between them. “My student, you can push a boat into the water without being inside it, but you won’t be able to control its course.” He says, placidly brushing a hand on the side of Genji’s faceplate. The cyborg immediately mellows out and falls silent –Hanzo registers the interaction, but doesn’t have the time to properly think on it, as the omnic turns to face him as well. “Hanzo, my new friend… if it starts raining on the seaside, it does not matter whether you choose to hide underwater or you run out to reach the coast –you will eventually have to get wet.”

And just like that, the peaceful monk flutters forward, preceding them at the base’s entrance.

Hanzo is speechless. “…did he just?”

“Tell us to stop squabbling like little bitches and get over ourselves, in more polite terms?” Genji supplies, “I think he did.” The archer can hear the fond amusement in his brother’s voice, and it brings a smile to his own face.

So there is more to Zenyatta than just words of wisdom about tranquillity. The sass is unexpected, but it makes him more interesting.

It also explains a lot of things about Genji, now that he thinks on it.

 

Estrella runs towards him barefoot and with sand all over, hair soaking wet and scuffed knees as the least of the problems. But she is laughing heartily and looks much more at ease than she was before, less grumpy and not glaring at anyone who comes close anymore, so Hanzo can’t bring himself to reprimand her or McCree about it, picking her up when she raises her arms towards him.

“Hello, child.” He says, “Did you have fun playing on the beach?”

“Si!” she exclaims, letting herself be put back down to dust off and regain composure a little bit as soon as she sees Genji come up behind his brother, “Jessito took me to find conchas— uh, sea…shells?” a nod from the archer confirms she’s correct, and the child continues, “And the sea is big! It’s this big!”

‘This’ big being obviously the standard estimate of measure consisting of a child putting their arms apart as far as they can go. The archer’s first few attempts at getting her to sit still long enough to dry off are fruitles, as she loudly claims she’s a big girl who won’t get sick, complaining about “putas reglas” and “arqueros obstinados”, but eventually settles down when Hanzo swipes a thumb across her cheeks and shows her an entire fingerprint of goopy sand.

“Ain’t she as sweet as apple pie?” between the people passing through the doors making “aww” sounds at the adorable child and Hanzo’s own admittedly growing soft spot for Estrella, McCree also decided to poke his head back inside, nodding his greetings at Reinhardt who was just about to go outside but decided to backtrack to fetch a towel for the child, upon stumbling on the scene.

He’s drenched as well, seawater darkening the entire front of his flannel shirt and a good deal of his jeans.

“What… happened to you?” the archer is genuinely confused.

Jesse just shrugs as he takes off his cowboy hat and plops it on a giggling Estrella’s head, with a quick request to “hold it for a sec, munchkin,” before properly answering Hanzo, hands going to his shirt to get rid of the sopping wet item of clothing before he goes further inside into the base. “Well y’see, the little missy had never properly been ta the seaside.” He says, as if that explains everything, “That’s a wrong I just had to right, ya know? And you know how things end up when ya play wit’ water.”

 _You will eventually have to get wet._ The archer tears his gaze away from Jesse to focus on politely thanking Reinhardt for coming back to them and handing him a towel to dry off Estrella’s hair with; and he takes the hat from her to get to work. His shift in attention has nothing to do with the quick work the cowboy does of unbuttoning and taking off the shirt to wring it out at the entrance, probably in order to avoid dripping everywhere, he’s just taking proper care of the child: making sure Estrella doesn’t catch a cold is important. There’s nothing special about a shirtless Jesse McCree, whatever Genji said is irrelevant. Sure, the man is built for battle and he does make quite the sight even with the smattering of chest hair and the barest hint of handles at his sides –no doubt the result of his love for certain types of junk food – but it’s nothing Hanzo has never seen so there’s no reason to acknowledge it at all. Hell, he himself keeps half his garment off his chest, if only to have proper mobility for his bow.

“Hey! Oy!” fed up with the manhandling of her hair, the little girl starts protesting. Apparently, he was concentrating a little too hard in making sure her hair is properly towelled off. “Enough with the towel de mierda! I want to go play more! Hana is good to me, she promised to let me play computer!” Foul mouth and haughty attitude. Hanzo schools his expression into a stern one.

“Ask nicely, Estrella.” It’s really a wonder they’re not biologically related –Jesse bites back the remark fiercely as he watches Hanzo chastise her.

“Hmpf. Can I go play with Hana, por favor?” there’s a level of sarcasm in that ‘please’ a 6 year old shouldn’t be capable of, but any child under a Shimada’s supervision apparently picks up the barbs pretty quick.

“Better. Run along.” Hanzo says, and Genji adds “Good girl!” and a ruffling of her hair that makes her blush and stifle a giggle before she runs off. The cyborg is starting to find the whole thing very amusing.

“Welp. I have ta get washed up and changed ‘fore I can do anything else.” McCree eventually says, draping his wrung out shirt over his shoulders, not bothering to even pull the sleeves through, “Keep an eye on the munchkin while I’m gone, yeah? It’s yer turn.”

The archer nearly jumps back when Jesse closes in on him, but remembers he was still holding the hat and hands it to him as the other moves to take it. “Um. Right, sorry. I will.”

“Later, darlin’.”

If asked, Hanzo will forever blame Genji for putting the very idea in his head. It’s really his fault for what he told him that he now even considered committing to memory the sight of a shirtless and wet Jesse McCree walking off with a tip of the hat and a smile. Still, fact stands that it’s permanently burned into his retinas, whether he liked it or not.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, reminding himself that this is stupid, his thoughts are just scrambled and messy because of the confusion caused by their unusual new task and his brother’s inappropriate and absurd insinuations. He doesn’t know how to deal with this and his heavy reliance on the cowboy is making him imagine things that are not there, that’s all.

When he reopens his eyes, Genji is by his side.

«You _so_ want to touch his butt.»

Hanzo vows to ignore his brother for the rest of the day.

Estrella’s fingers are too tiny to be an actual challenge over the controller, but Hana is delighted to spend some time with someone else under 20 for a change all the same.

She even set the child’s difficulty to easy, so that she can have fun winning some games as well.

“Hana?”

The D.Va nearly jumps when the kid’s voice startles her out from her concentration. “Um, yeah?”

Estrella has stopped mashing buttons, and doesn’t bat an eye when her character gets beat up. “Why is el arquero always sad?”

A quick search on the translation tab she’s been keeping open confirms that the child is asking about Hanzo. “Aw, come on, now, he’s not _always_ sad…” truth to be told, she’s noticed the way the archer carries himself. He stands strong and confident, but he shies away from what others would consider normal friendly interaction. He makes an effort for his brother, but he always has a thin shadow of hesitation. She heard them speaking about moving on and other such things, but…. Despite only knowing Hanzo for a couple of months, she figured out that for him it’s easier said than done. And maybe as a result of that, he tends to silently dote on others, especially the youngest among them, like herself –while trying his hardest to pretend he isn’t. Like he’s lost the right to that affection.

It frustrates her to no end, especially considering the wronged party himself not only is very much alive –and a badass cyborg – but has also repeatedly stated that it’s ok to fucking get over himself and move on… but that’s not something you can explain to a 6 year old child… _Well, you see, your surrogate father figure mutilated and nearly murdered your crush, so now things are a bit awkward between them._ Yeah, that wouldn’t go well.

“But he has this face…” Estrella counters, childish lexicon and tentative knowledge of the language making her phrasing adorable, “Full of things he don’t says.”

It makes Hana smile softly at the little girls. “You’re a very perceptive kid. It’s probably why he took this much of a shine to you.” She ruffles Estrella’s hair with one hand, which earns her a gruff protest and yet the child doesn’t really pull away. “Don’t you worry about a thing, munchkin. He’s not sad because of you.”

The reassurance, coupled with McCree’s chosen nickname for her, makes Estrella feel better enough to resume their game.

Hana watches the child out of the corner of her eye. She’s been doing remarkably well for someone who just got out of six months of captivity, and seems willing enough to trust them –though that  might be thanks to Zenyatta, who spoke soft and benevolent even in Spanish, and by what McCree told her the omnic explained to Estrella that their only wish was to see her free and happy, and that they would help to try and find her family if she let them, but that nobody would hold her against her will, and if she didn’t want to stay she only needed to say the word and he’d personally see to giving her an escort to a place of her choice.

Being a smart six year old, Estrella clearly decided she’ll take the help, and that’s why Hana’s afternoon is spent playing games with her and eating snacks, Hanzo occasionally checking on them and Lúcio popping by as well, reminding D.Va that they’ll have to at least come down for dinner.

The gamer decides to be a dutiful surrogate niece and brings the little girl back to Hanzo so she can have a proper meal in the kitchen –especially now that she’s finally settling down to eat properly instead of wolfing down whatever she can get her hands on while under the impression that she wouldn’t get to eat again anytime soon –it’s heart-breaking, really, and it takes a stern look from the archer to get her to remember to chew slowly.

“You will choke to death otherwise, and what will I tell your family when we find them?”

Estrella is instantly spooked, chews thoroughly and swallows deeply, before going for a drink of water, just to be sure. Hanzo’s tactics leave much to be desired in terms of kindness, but are effective. Also it’s totally just a front, Hana thinks as she watches him silently watching the child, recalling the man softly singing the girl to sleep when she had the panic attack and will forever trasure the lullaby video –he tried to convince her to delete it, but eventually let her off with the promise not to show it to anyone, _especially_ not to McCree, since “the cowman already has way too much ammunition to try and ridicule me”.

Hanzo is strangely distant, though. It might be because no one has yet broached the subject of how to ask Estrella whether she knew her parents were long dead and if there’s any aunts or uncles she knows of. The archer knows none of their teammates are comfortable with this and the task of actually talking about it will fall either on him or McCree. Ideally both of them.

He sigh, ruffling her hair. “I’m going to train some more.” He then says, moving to get out of the kitchen and through the common areas to go and hopefully clear his thoughts a bit.

“Can I come see?”

“No, Estrella, it’s dangerous and Zenyatta is not here to shield you now.” The archer reminds her, biting back a grin at her immediate indignation. Hana hides a chuckle behind her hand as well.

“I’m a big girl! I don’t need no puto robot!”

 _Little girl after my own heart._ He thinks fondly, remembering his initial diffidence about omnics and how much of a challenge it was for him to overcome his own narrow mind –really, Genji had every right to bitch at him like he did, in hindsight– but then he immediately squishes down the feeling. _What am I doing? She is not ‘my’ little girl. Where was this caring person when Genji needed it? Am I this big of a hypocrite?_

“Hey, you’re talking about my master, little girl.” Estrella jumps out of her skin upon hearing Genji’s voice, and darts for Hanzo. It’s been almost three days now, and the cyborg can’t quite say for sure whether the child really has a crush on him or is terrified of him –it’s endlessly amusing either way. “I’ll make you a deal, why don’t we leave this boring old archer to his training, and you come  play with me and Zenyatta? We’re going to the rooftop.”

“Genji…” the warning tone in that voice is so familiar that the cyborg almost chuckles at it with reminiscence.

“Don’t worry brother, we’ll keep good watch!”

Hanzo can _feel_ the puppy eyes from behind his brother’s visor, and instantly knows something is up… but he relents in the end. He never could quite resist Genji’s puppy eyes –he doubts anyone in this world could, past, present or future.

 

Which is how the archer finds himself alone in the practice range, powering through sim after sim, until the familiar jingle of spurs has him halt mid-shot.

“Yeesh, darlin’, isn’t it a bit late to still be skewering bots?” of course it would be the cowboy to come find him when he’s tired, dishevelled and with a lot on his mind. “Genji put Estrellita to bed like an hour ago, and he mentioned you’d still be here.”

Ah. Thinking back on it, Hanzo muses this must have been Genji’s plan from the start. Remove the child from his attention, knowing he’d throw himself into the training, and send McCree to get him so they’d be alone together late at night.

«What do I have to do to convince my brother that I don’t want to bed the cowboy?!» he mutters in Japanese, rolling his eyes to the ceiling.

“Hey now! I dunno what that was, but it ain’t nice to speak of a man when he’s right here!” McCree’s arm cross over his chest, but his tone is light and joking. Hanzo regards the mismatched limbs with a slightly morbid interest for a second, before rising his gaze to the other’s face.

“How are we going to tell the child she has no parents anymore?” he asks, the question probably seeming out of the blue for the cowboy, who does startle slightly.

Jesse ponders, then sighs. “Can’t say I rightly know, darlin’.”

“Stop calling me that.”

The cowboy doesn’t even dignify the remark with his attention. “It’s gonna have ta happen sooner or later, that is, if she don’t already know.”

“Winston seems eager to just confirm she has no family and drop her off at an orphanage.” The archer grumbles bitterly, as he gathers up his bow and quiver, putting back the blunted arrows and retrieving his actual ones.

“Hey now, that ain’t true… he’s got Athena scouring every inch of—”

“Then why did he just write off the parents as ‘dead’ with no further investigation?!” Dark eyes are angrily staring up at McCree as Hanzo interrupts him, “The address they found is nearby, it would have been a zero-cost effort to just _go_ and see what happened. Is this just another child the grownups won’t care about because it’s not a _priority_?”

 _Is this about Estrellita or are you still bitter over what led you and your brother to fillet each other?_ Jesse knows better than to ask. Truth to be told, he can see why Winston wants to play it cautious, what with Overwatch still being technically illegal, but he has to agree with Hanzo on this one.

“Well, ya know… that don’t sit too well with me either, but what can y—”

Hands grab at his sarape and McCree’s about to protest, but when he finds himself almost chest to chest with the archer he’s not even mad that he keeps getting interrupted. “Then let’s go. Just you and me.”

Jesse is sure he must have misheard, because there’s no way Hanzo is suggesting what he thinks he is, breath coming out in puffs and hair looking deliciously mussed and poking out of its bun in places. “What?”

“Let’s head to the place Estrella’s parents should be. Confirm what happened, search for clues and come back.” The archer’s voice drops to a whisper, “We both know our way around doing things quick and secretly, it’s barely midnight and the place is close by. If we leave now, we can be back before dawn.”

 _Darlin’, I’d know my way around doing plenty more in secret, just maybe not so quick._ Jesse can’t enjoy the inadvertent double-entendre for long enough, as realization hits him that Hanzo is serious. “You can’t be serious.”

“Either you come with me, or I go alone.” Just as suddenly as he grabbed him, the archer lets go of McCree and starts taking his leave.

Knowing better than to doubt a Shimada’s words, Jesse has no choice but to follow. “Fine. But if Winston decides to go ape-ass on us, I’mma blame ya entirely.”

That, of all things, gets him a smirk from Hanzo, as he makes a show of letting his hair down, combing through it with his hands, and retying it back to order. “Fine by me. Get a move on, _vaquero_.”

McCree has to bite his lips and push his hat down on his eyes to follow without letting the groan rising in his chest escape through his lips.

It’s going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once more, I apologize for any inconsistencies with the actual canon universe, I only have very basic knowledge of things that happened in the story and I'm struggling with trying to fit so many characters in my stupid-ass fic.  
> I'll try my best.
> 
> Next chapter maybe Tuesday? No promises though.


	7. Tracks and Fragments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are more than they appear.  
> Genji is still a little shit.  
> Something hurts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before I forget: as usual, «this» is Japanese and [this] is Spanish.
> 
> Now. Freaking finally. Lookie here, I'm faster than I thought I was.  
> Something's going on. Well, except those two getting handsy with each other and Genji being a little shit.  
> I had so much fun writing him in the last chapter, omg.  
> Hopefully I can control properly how ths entire thing goes.  
> Crossed fingers, here.

The place is deserted, the building exterior in various states of disrepair and the few people still out and about at this time of night steering clear of it.

By all means, it does look like it’s been like this a good long time, but Hanzo feels a burning underneath his own skin.

_Not what it seems. Look closely. Trust your instinct._

It’s not quite words, more like sensations that spur him on, and he nods at McCree when the cowboy points at a window that was broken who knows how long ago. The cowboy is not quite nimble enough to scale it himself, but Hanzo can get inside and open a lower floor one for him.

The floor is dusty when he lands in what looks like an abandoned apartment –the building itself being rather old and small, and not housing more than 8, at most– but that doesn’t narrow the timeframe enough. There are signs of a scuffle, the archer notices as he looks around, upturned furniture, dented walls and littered clutter as tell-tale signs, but even that doesn’t offer him the complete picture. He decides to descend and get McCree before he disturbs anything, two pairs of eyes are always better than one. He steps out of the apartment and notices that luckily there are windows on the side of the stairs going from floor to floor so he won’t have to chance breaking in potentially still inhabited quarters to get his teammate. He goes down two before deciding that’s enough.

“Aw, c’mon partner, you couldn’t have got the one below?” Jesse complains, as he trudges up the second story window, hoisted up by the archer once he’s close enough.

“You can use the exercise.”

“Are ya callin’ me fat?”

“I’m calling you lazy.” Hanzo deadpans, helping the gunslinger up once he finally flops down inside the hallway, “Now come, the place we’re looking for is two flights of stairs up.”

The cowboy makes a show of whining, without any real offense to it “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t ya?”

“Maybe. Stop dragging your ass and let’s go.”

Not being privy to the Shimada brother’s many conversations in Japanese, McCree is surprised to hear the word ‘ass’ from the archer. “Language!” he jokes, “No wonder Estrellita swears like a sailor!”

His jokes die in his throat when they reach the apartment.

“Well, shit.”

“I haven’t touched anything yet, but we should look around. See if anything clues us into what transpired…” Hanzo pauses, “…see if we can find any remains.”

“Fun times.” Jesse deadpans, sighing and getting to work.

 From the state of the place and the marks left behind, they deduce that there was definitely a firearm scuffle, where whoever was assaulted was taken completely by surprise and didn’t last long in their struggle.

Jesse notices a particular set of dark brown stains that might have once been red, and nods to the archer. “Look at that, against the wall.” He steps back towards the window Hanzo came in from, and begins tracing the tracks. “They broke in…” crouching, he pretends to be holding a rifle, and takes a left towards the meagre kitchen space, where cheap furniture was broken and discarded here and there, “Grabbed a hold of their targets…” he goes back, “Roughed ‘em up into submission…” and finally he steps in front of the wall, “…and then…” he finger-guns the blood splatters.

Hanzo sees it too. “They weren’t just assaulted. They were _executed_.”

“Either someone came to ask them questions and wasn’t too pleased with the answers, or…”

The archer keeps looking around, at clutter and scattered papers. Something catches his eye. “…or they didn’t need answers at all, and were just by to dispose of witnesses.”

“Hm?” when he sees Hanzo beckoning for him to kneel, Jesse follows, “What’cha got?”

“Payment orders, warnings. These people were buried into debt.” The archer explains, showing him a couple of the papers in question, “And then, all of a sudden… it stops. Mail kept coming in…” he shows a newspaper some two or three months old, “But any reminder of their debt stopped. At around _six months_ ago.”

“No.” McCree doesn’t want to believe it, but the evidence is there. “They sold their daughter.”

Hanzo nods wordlessly. “It’s a poor neighbourhood. We both know how much people are willing to give up if you make them desperate enough.” He says, not really needing to elaborate further, “The traffickers let them believe they were off the hook for a while, and then went to silence any voices that could have pointed at them.”

“Household accident.” The cowboy snorts, recalling the cause of death as it was listed in the police report. He picks up a tablet from the floor. The screen is shattered and it doesn’t even seem to turn on… but it’s worth taking.

They exchange a shrug and exit the apartment, moving in the stairwell.

McCree chuckles bitterly, even though Hanzo is not looking at him. “What a night, am I ri—”

He doesn’t get to finish the thought, as the archer all but shoves him behind and under the dusty alcove where the stairs from their floor to the next up meet with the upper set at an angle. Once more, he finds himself chest to chest with Hanzo. “Whoa there!”

“Shut up!” it’s barely a hiss, and Jesse can’t do much except to just stay there and take it, hands hanging out at his sides awkwardly until he decides to just put them on the other’s sides.

Well, damn. He never pegged Hanzo for one to just go for it like that, but all things considered he should’ve known a man like that just goes ahead and gets what he wants. This is definitely sudden and fast. “Darlin’… babe, this ain’t really the place to-”

“I said shut up!” another forceful shove slams him more harshly into the wall behind him, flattening him to it, and McCree thinks ‘fuck it’ as he feels the other press his full body against his chest. It’s kind of weird and morbid as hell, in his opinion, but he isn’t about to pass up the chance to enjoy an armful of lithe archer all for himself.

“Sweetheart, just let me—” It isn’t until he too hears the footsteps, a couple of seconds later, that Jesse understands how badly he had misread the situation. Four people in full tactical gear come up to the apartment door and enter, then proceeding to completely thrash the place in search for something.

Hanzo was simply _hiding_ them from danger.

 _Get your head out of the gutter, cowboy._ He hazards a look at what little he can see through the doorway. “…Talon?”

“It would seem like it.” The archer whispers back, slowly backtracking and leading him down to leave, “It looks like we’re not the only ones looking for information.”

McCree doesn’t need to see the gesture towards the open window to get the message –let’s hightail it out of here – and they do just that.

“That don’t make a lick of sense, though.” The gunslinger says, once they’re safely on the way back to the Watchpoint, “Why would Talon be after a little girl’s family?”

Hanzo looks as confused as him, as he shrugs, “I do not know. Maybe it’s not Estrella they’re after, maybe it’s about the traffickers. Covering up whatever tracks kept them together to avoid unnecessary risks of exposure.”

Neither of them talks about the fact that the signs of battle and bloodstains were barely a month old.

 

Predictably, Winston does go ape-ass on them.

“Of all the reckless things to do! I expected better of you!” the scientist says, reprimanding tone not being enough for Hanzo to even flinch, used as he was to his ex-clan’s elders bitching constantly, “McCree? Sure, he’d be crazy enough to pull such a stunt, but you? I thought you were the responsible one in this!”

“With all due respect, we have found relevant evidence concerning our case, discovered Talon involvement and came back undetected and uninjured.” The archer counters, conceding a stiff bow of apology all the same: “I apologise for disobeying orders. It won’t happen again, provided that future courses of action are more extensively discussed.”

Winston relents slightly. He grumbles something about being still new to “this leadership thing” and takes the tablet from McCree’s hands.

“This thing is a mess.” He says, “I’ll have Lúcio work with Athena on trying to restore and sort out the data. You’re both dismissed.”

Hanzo does feel slightly guilty about not even trying to look for approval first. “For what it’s worth, it was my idea.”

“Which is why you won’t be allowed to take any transports off-base without proper clearance for the next four weeks, mission-related or otherwise.”

Harsh, but to be expected. The archer gives a curt bow again, and takes his leave. Winston peers at the retreating form curiously above his glasses.

“Huh.”

“What?” McCree asks, from his spot on the door.

“Nothing, just… I was expecting he’d put up more of a fight about being punished.” The scientist explains, putting the retrieved tablet on the console to start examining what’s left of the hardware, “After all, even though it technically violated protocol, you two did uncover new info on the case and uncovered a possibly deeper involvement of Talon in the entire smuggling humans and weapons thing. Results over rules and all that.”

The gunslinger ponders it. “My guess is he don’t want to put ya on the spot too much.”

“Come again?”

“Well, you’re kinda new at this whole commander thing, an’ you’re used to being a scientist… which usually means a whole lot of observing and very little doing.” Not exactly tactful, but McCree is nothing if not straightforward. He nods towards the empty space Hanzo was in and continues, “He was used to the yakuza and the way _they_ worried much more about gettin’ results and gettin ‘em fast; but I reckon he doesn’t fault ya for wanting ta stay cautious, and protesting his punishment means questioning yer leadership, which we can’t really afford to do.”

Also maybe Hanzo is aware that their own snooping plan wasn’t as thought out as it could have been and they had an extremely lucky break, so arguing further would amount to being a massive pot calling the kettle black. But the scientist manages to reach that reasoning on his own.

“Yeah, well.” He says, motioning with one hand towards the door while moving to sit on his tire, “Scram now. Go get some shuteye.”

Jesse doesn’t need to be told twice.

 

Hanzo wakes four hours later, tired out of his mind and with a hyper Estrella jumping up and down on his bed. The archer groans and rubs at his eyes, but turns his attention to the little girl all the same. “I don’t suppose you would let me sleep in?”

She sticks his tongue at him. “Sleep is for the weak!”

Hanzo has an inkling as to where she learned that. Grunting with the effort, he pushes off the bed and stands up, feet clanking on the ground. Estrella tries to be sneaky, but he does catch her looking. “It doesn’t hurt.” He says, answering the question she wouldn’t ask, “I have super-legs so I can be fast and climb high.”

Technically it isn’t even a lie. His prosthetics are very advanced, possibly one of a kind –they don’t even come off like normal ones: they’re part organic, synthetic mesh and materials blending into a complex structure designed specifically to absorb impact and provide excellent performance.

Sure, it pales in comparison to the technical wizardry that makes up Genji’s new body, but the archer spends as little thinking about that as possible. They have just recently started to mend their relationship and even joke with each other, he doesn’t want to think about the chances that Genji will wake up one day and decide that he is actually not worth the effort. It’s part of why he lets his brother get away with his crude jests about McCree.

“Does that mean that Jessito has a super-arm?” Speak of the devil. Or think of the devil, in this case.

He nods tiredly at the child, stifling a yawn. “Sure.” He says, grabbing some clean clothes and moving to the room’s bathroom to quickly wash himself and splash cold water on his face to wake up some more. “Are you going to be able to wash yourself, child?” he asks as he deposits the old clothes in the laundry bin to then tie his belt properly.

Estrella just scurries into the bathroom and closes the door behind herself –the archer opts to taking his time with tying up his hair and listening for any distress noises. Convincing the child to wear clean clothes is another struggle altogether, and Hanzo has to resort to dragging her back to the bathroom, shoving the garments at her, and locking her in until she properly dressed herself.

There are what Hanzo is sure are some choice words about him in Spanish, but the little girl eventually relents, and when there’s a tell-tale knock behind him, with an “I’m done” of confirmation, the archer opens the door and lets her out. Navy sweatpants and a t-shirt with a t-rex on it are not the fanciest outfit around, but it’s better than sleeping clothes while still having Estrella comfortable enough to play and run around.

She’s still clutching the blue ribbon. Hanzo doesn’t even have to speak as he gestures for her to come to him, and when they join the rest of the team for breakfast Estrella has the braid she’s rapidly growing fond of to match her caretaker’s bun.

“Well good morning to you…” Tracer comments, smiling at the energetic child running up to demand food and then turning to look at the far less lively archer. “You look like shit.”

Hanzo doesn’t deny the statement, and just sits down as Lúcio sympathetically slides him a plate of eggs and beans on toast. “I had a bit of a late night.” He says, accepting the plate with a thankful nod.

“I’ll say…” the musician can’t quite contain his smirk, and simply waves a hello in the direction of the newcomers –Hana and Genji, “Winston told us about your little escapade with McCree. I’m surprised you’re up at all.”

Lúcio’s expression is far too smug for it to be only unfortunate phrasing, and the way Hana not-so-subtly giggles in her coffee makes it obvious that he was purposefully trying to be misunderstood. Which succeeds in completely throwing Genji for a loop, instead of the archer himself.

“Naniiiiiiiiiii?!” Hanzo winces. Volume control was never his brother’s forte –even Estrella claps her hands over her ears. “Brother why didn’t you tell me?! What did he do?! Did he ask first?! I swear to God if he—”

“Genji please. He was talking about us going out to investigate last night, against orders.” And if someone calls him out on the way his voice cracked at his plea for his brother to shut up, Hanzo will blame a throat still scratchy from sleep –or lack thereof. He pinches the bridge of his nose underneath his piercing –it’s quickly becoming a gesture he associates at being exasperated at his brother’s antics. “Nothing of what _you_ think happened.”

“Oh, that!” the cyborg calms down instantly, antennas on the sides of his head twitching confusedly, “I’m surprised at you brother, that was a very stupid decision. Investigating at night with no back up and without clearance?”

“I know sparrow. But there were some things I had to see for myself.” Genji understands, and pipes down. Glancing briefly in the child’s direction, he opts for a change of topic –well not quite, he won’t miss the chance to mess with his big brother some more.

“Still, it’d be one lousy choice of activity for a date.”

Hanzo’s hand had barely left his face, that it comes back up. “It’s a good thing it _wasn’t_ one then, isn’t it?”

“What’s a date?” Lúcio nearly chokes on his food when Estrella asks.

“Bless your heart, munchkin.” He mutters, laughing, “It’s something people who like each other a lot do, spend time together.”

“Oh? Like when they go to the roof?” the pointed hand towards Genji leaves few doubts about who’s ‘they’, and that makes the occupants at the table laugh even more –Hanzo himself struggles to contain a chuckle, his brother is visibly shaken, while Estrella innocently rubs the back of her neck, under the braid.

“No, w-wait, that’s not— we’re not… it doesn’t work like that!” steam puffs out from the vents at the sides of his head and neck, making it look like the cyborg version of blushing.

Hana snorts. “Welp, _there’s_ something I didn’t need to know.” She gets up to deposit her dirty dishes in the sink and get some more coffee. “Actually, spare me the details. _Any_ of you.” She adds, with a pointed stare at Hanzo.

He doesn’t dignify her with a reply, looking at her mug instead. “Did you even go to sleep last night?”

“Nope.” She declares, popping the ‘p’. “Nothing a cup of this won’t fix.”

The archer sighs. “Eat something dry as well, at least.” He tosses her a slice of toast, satisfied when her reflexes allow her to catch it in her free hand. “You’ll burn a hole in your stomach one of these days.”

“Ugh, fine, _dad_.”

The entire table goes still. Genji is just glad that the focus shifted from him to them and that he doesn’t have to explain that his meditation sessions with Zenyatta are _not_ dates because that would be ridiculous, he and his master have just a deep and profound companionship in their search for inner peace and there’s absolutely nothing like that going on and his vents are _definitely not overloading in an attempt to cool off_ — but Hanzo just scoffs slightly.

“I’m not your dad.” He says, voice so stern it could be mistaken for cold, just before it softens a touch. “But I might as well be. I’m not trying to tell you how to do things, but do try not to kill yourself with caffeine, hm?”

“Mm-mm.” suddenly bashful, Hana nods and scurries away towards her room with a mouthful of toast, probably to stream some more.

«Holy shit, brother.»

«Not a word, sparrow.»

Lúcio is also looking at him with something akin to awe. Hanzo raises a calm brow at him, and the musician returns to his eggs and beans with a yelp. The archer just shakes his head, as Tracer stifles a giggle behind her hand.

“Elbows off the table, Estrella.” It comes out of his mouth as a reflex, having had to correct Genji’s sloppy posture for years, when they were children, and the child grumbles, but does stop rubbing her neck to drop her arms and resume eating properly –sneaking a glance at Genji as she does so, and the cyborg just gives her a thumbs up as he takes off his visor and starts piling up food for himself as well.

“Well.” Lúcio says at one point, “I have to get going too, got that tablet Winston and Athena wanted me to look at. Also, Mercy needs a consult on the activity report from that 76 guy.”

The other occupants of the kitchen nod and hum their goodbyes, and Genji turns to his brother as he stands up as well. “Are you going to join me in meditation today as well?”

Hanzo shakes his head. “I would end up falling asleep. You go.” And then, in a flash of mischief: “Enjoy your date.” He immensely enjoys the way the cyborg’s spine goes rigid for a second, before he takes his leave, pointedly ignoring him.

There’s probably going to be a whole mess of payback, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“So, what are your plans for the day, luv?”

Being the only one left at the table with them, Lena engages the archer in conversation.

“I don’t know. I’m not nearly focused enough for training, so maybe I’ll run inventory and do some stock checks in weapons and ammunition.” He rubs tiredly at his eyes as Lena nods. Staying up until dawn was definitely not a good idea.

“What’s that mean?”

“It means I’m going to sit around and count things, Estrella.” He explains, “So that everyone knows how many things we have and how many we need.”

Predictably, the child scowls at the idea of sitting still and counting a whole lot of things. “Counting is boring!” she complains, smacking her tiny fingers on the edge of the table. Tracer takes pity on the archer, and goes up to the child with a smile.

“You can hang around with me until we find McCree!” she offers, holding out a hand, “I’m sure we can get Reinhardt to tell us stories…”

Estrella shoots a sideways glance at Hanzo, who nods encouragingly at her, before deciding to take the offered hand with a smile, asking if they’re going to be cool stories with lots of explosions and such.

Maybe it’s because he’s so tired, but he could swear he feels a familiar stirring in his skin.

 _Protect the little one. Protect the both of them._ He absently runs a hand over his shoulder –he opted out of his kyudo-gi in favour of a simple tank top and black trousers, considering he doesn’t plan on using his bow anytime today, but the tingle of energy courses through him and he can even feel it over the cloth and under his hand.

 

Inventory work is every bit as boring as a child would imagine, but at least it doesn’t require too much effort and Hanzo can gradually shrug off his haziness from the less than ideal night he had. Also, Torbjörn offers his help when they chance upon each other in one of the hangars, mentioning that there’s some spares and parts he wants to make sure they still have for his projects, and make a list of the things they need. He’s sat on a crate and taking a break, rubbing at his temples, when he spots McCree approaching, child in tow.

“Howdy, partner!” the gunslinger doesn’t seem too worse for the wear, but it also stands true that they didn’t see heads or tails of him until pretty late in the morning. “Estrellita wanted to see if you’re still working.”

The archer watches silently for a couple of seconds, as Torbjörn greets the girl, inadvertently scaring her with his big face and bigger beard. He eventually makes her laugh with silly faces, and she starts asking him questions with all the earnest curiosity of a child. Hanzo shakes his head. “I think we’re just about done for today.” He mutters, raising both his arms and throwing back his head to stretch before letting his spine and shoulders relax –doesn’t notice McCree’s silence as he follows the movement with his eyes.

“Good. Estrellita wanted to go out to the beach again, but she wants ya to come along.”

Hanzo has half a mind to refuse, considering the state the two returned in the previous day, but it’s not like he’s got anything better to do with his time, and maybe he’ll get away with sitting quietly somewhere and enjoying the breeze.

 

Or not. Estrella, while acting most of the time like she wants really bad to be the ‘tough’ kid, is very lively and curious, wanting to see this and that and bodily throwing herself in the water at the first sign of something zipping by. Inevitably, they both got drenched in order to keep up with her. Luckily it’s a warm day, so they’re not too worried about the child getting cold, as she walks up and down the shore, looking at all the pebbles and little critters.

“Don’t put your face near it, Estrella!” Hanzo warns, when he sees her picking up a tiny hermit crab, but doesn’t move to take it from her, since she seems content with letting it walk back and forth across her hands.

He chooses to sit in the sand not too far away, and is joined by McCree moments after.

“She sure is a handful an’ a half, eh?”

For once, the archer welcomes the easy chatter, and the corner of his lips twitches upwards, even if he doesn’t take his eyes off the kid. “You can say that again.” He leans both his hands behind himself and reclines his back towards the sun. His entire front is drenched, not unlike McCree had been, and he’s hoping that the sun will dry off the worst of it for him. There’s sand pretty much everywhere on his body, he’s pretty sure he has some in his hair as well, neat bun having long become messy and damp, and yet he can’t deny how… fun it was, to just let a child play around and follow along to simply make sure nobody gets hurt. He wonders how long before the next problem rears its head at them all.

He jumps when he feels the gunslinger’s hand touch his shoulder. “Whoa, easy there!” Jesse says, removing the offending limb and placing it in the sand between them, “You’re wound tighter than a guitar string…”

“Or a bow string?” Hanzo supplies with half a smirk, but he drops it when he sees the cowboy is not dissuaded. “It’s just… what game are we playing here? Coddling a child with no parents and Talon roaming about in search of something connected to her, pretending this is some sort of… vacation, that this entire situation is not going to go to shit the very minute we understand what’s going on?”

McCree has been wondering the same, and bites his lips, to delay the embarrassment of not having an answer. Estrella waves at them, pointing at what is now two hermit crabs crawling around her feet, and Jesse waves back, trying to settle the weight in his chest with a sigh. “I know what you mean, darlin’.” It’s a testament to how pensive the archer is, when he lets the pet name slide, “But ya can't be constantly on your guard for the other shoe to drop. You’ll burn yerself out before it starts.”

The gunslinger momentarily freezes when he realizes his fingers are just barely brushing Hanzo’s hand in the sand, but the other doesn’t seem to mind.

“Maybe you’re right.” He mutters, looking up at him, “I just can’t shake the feeling that there’s something that I’m missing. And the last time I’ve felt like this, was…”

It was when he was young and naïve. Too proud to believe the clan elders wished for anything but his success, to believe that he was being used as a tool to get rid of a threat. He doesn’t need to say it.

“Look. You’re not alone, this time ‘round.” Jesse’s voice dropped, and this time the contact around the archer’s wrist is deliberate, “So don’t go thinkin’ ya have to keep all these worries bottled up, ya hear me?” he then warns, in a mock-menacing tone, “You have us.”

 _You have me._ That one he doesn’t say. The cowboy wonders where that even came from, why should that be a thing that he’d say to Hanzo –but the archer looks at him and smiles, an actual smile that relaxes the muscles of his face, and McCree starts thinking that he’d say just about anything to see that face all the time.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He mumbles, not even bothered by the hand still closed around his wrist, as he leans slightly in to peek at the gunslinger’s eyes beneath his hat...

“Jessito, look!” they become all too aware of their closeness, all at once, as the little girl sprints towards them, and spring apart as if scalded. [Look, this one has spirals on it and it walks all funny! Look how goofy it is!]

[That’s nice, munchkin…] McCree clears his voice awkwardly, [You should let it go, the little guy needs water to live.]

Estrella immediately does so, letting the hermit crab she was holding back on the sand and watching as the critter quickly scurried towards the water, all the while rubbing her free hand behind her neck.

Hanzo looks at her with perplexed eyes, finding it odd for such a tick to randomly appear. “Does your neck hurt, child?”

“Um…” she tries shaking her head, but doesn’t drop her hand.

“You can tell the truth, you’re not in trouble.” He assures, beckoning her closer to have a look, “Did you fall?”

“No…”

“Is it from just now?”

“…no…” she doesn’t seem to trust the idea that she’s not in trouble for hiding her pain –or for even having been in pain at all– and the archer shakes his head, recalling the moment he caught her doing the same at the breakfast table. “I just… didn’t want to ruin your date.”

Jesse sputters violently at the notion, and the archer fights valiantly to keep his own reaction to a minimum.

“Sweetpea, that’s not… it’s nothin’ like that.” The cowboy tries to say, “We’re just, uh, hangin’ out and…”

“You’re not in trouble.” Hanzo repeats, sending a look to Jesse that clearly conveys that that is _not important right now, please shut up_ , and focuses on gently coaxing her to turn around and move her braid aside to feel around for any fall damage or anything of the sort in her neck and back. One soft poke at the base of her neck makes the child try and fail to suppress a whimper. The archer can barely believe his own senses. “McCree.” He prompts, abruptly taking Jesse’s flesh hand and guiding it to the child’s back.

“What in tarnation…” the cowboy is just as baffled: there, seemingly just barely under the skin, they can feel something hard and angled implanted in Estrella’s neck, like some kind of electronic device.

[What’s wrong with me, Jessito? Am I bad?]

[Of course not, sweetpea, there’s nothing wrong with you…] McCree stands and picks her up to comfort her a bit, [Why don’t we go talk to Angelita? Aren’t you curious to see what she’s doing?]

The child is still uneasy, and Hanzo can relate, but he sure is glad that the gunslinger knows how to be a calming presence. And he, for one, is definitely curious to hear what Mercy can tell them about this child.

“I agree. Let’s go talk to Angela.”

This time, he doesn’t ignore the stirring beneath his own skin, urging him to be wary and vigilant.

 _Protect the little one. Protect them both._ He wonders what Genji would have to say about it.

 _Trust the young master._ Replies the thrumming within his body.

Estrella nods, calm at first, if a bit queasy, but her whimpering grows louder and louder as they near the base, and she’s full-on crying by the time they get back.

“What’s wrong?!” Lúcio asks, when they all but storm the facility, child in arms, and demand to see Mercy,

“She has been feeling pain behind her neck all day.” Hanzo explains, as McCree holds the child and tries to soothe her with gentle whispers in Spanish, “We didn’t notice until just now, and it suddenly became severe. There seems to be a device of sorts under her skin.”

The musician does a double take at that. “What?!”

“Someone implanted something in this child’s neck.” The archer is all but growling at this point. “Get Mercy, _now._ ”

The medbay gets prepared and cleared in record time as Estrella lets out a scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really don't have a fucking clue what I'm doing.  
> I'm opened to suggestions, even though I do have an idea for the general direction the story will go in. Small details and scenes are not set in stone, though.
> 
> I dunno whether I'll be able to pump out another chapter by tomorrow or if it'll take up to thursday, because I'm gonna be working again these few days, but oh well.  
> Hope everyone enjoys and noone's too mad at me for the cliffhanger.


	8. Interwoven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Discoveries are made.  
> Not all of them are good.  
> Genji is still a little shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual: «this» is Japanese and [this] is Spanish.
> 
> Holy fuck I did it.  
> Things are starting to get juicy (finally) and maybe the two dorks in love will also do something about themselves soon.  
> Either that or I'll send Zenny to sass them into moving their butts.  
> Idk. Just take this, it's 1.21 a.m. and I have work tomorrow.

“The pain should have subsided by now.” is the first thing Mercy says, when she allows the two men back in the infirmary.

“What in the blue blazes happened, Angie?”

The doctor clears her voice, uneasy as to where to start, but does try her best. “The pain got so intense because the device in here was overheating. Whoever implanted it obviously hadn’t cared much about any discomfort it might cause her upon activation.” She says, escorting them to Estrella’s bedside, “I injected an emergency coolant and applied a heat diffuser on the skin above the implant, so it shouldn’t happen again.”

There she is. Sleeping facedown, head turned to one side, probably sedated to sleep off the traumatic event. She looks tiny. And weak.

Granted, it’s a child, so of course she’s small and weak, but… even in the short timespan they spent together, Hanzo has come to associate the tiny loudmouth with energy and brightness, this is… not right. It’s only chance that he’s staring intently at the disconcertingly _wrong_ picture, which makes him notice and ask:

“Why are there no entrance scars?” Angela turns to him with an inquisitive sound. He repeats himself. “Why are there no entrance scars from when the implant was placed? How did they hide this?”

“Biotic emitters can go a long way.” Mercy half-explains, sighing, “It’s a fast and cheap way to hide illicit surgery, especially if the access point is tiny.” She can understand the archer’s anger –hell, she’s livid herself and she hasn’t spent as much time with the child, due to her duties, but the very fact that someone would disgrace the practice for who knows what vile purposes makes her skin crawl.

To do this to a child just adds insult to injury. It’s revolting.

“Have ya found out what the thing’s supposed ta be?” McCree asks, moving to Hanzo’s side, to reach out and tuck some of Estrella’s hair behind her ear and away from her face.

“Well…” The doctor clears her voice again. “I was waiting for you two in order to do that. The final clearance will ultimately have to come from Winston, but as far as authorization goes… Lúcio and I will have to link the device to a portable interface to analyse it without compromising Athena, which means attaching a wire. Athena could access remotely with enough effort, but it puts the base at risk.”

The two men look at each other. Putting the base at risk is not an option, and they know it.

“Why tell us this?” the archer asks, not liking where this seems to be going.

“It’s only going to be a quarter inch of skin and the procedure isn’t risky, but it will be an operation nonetheless.” Yup. This is definitely going where he thinks it’s going. “In the absence of parents or legal guardians, you two are the closest thing she has. You two are her proxy, as far as Watchpoint is concerned.”

Jesse catches up, while Hanzo already has his eyes close and his mouth pulled in a tight line. It takes him a couple of breaths to reach the calmness he needs to look back at the gunslinger, and they share a look before nodding to each other.

The archer sits wordlessly at Estrella’s side, so McCree does the talking this time. “Do it. The sooner we know what this shit is the sooner y’all can yank it outta her.”

“That’s…” Angela looks about to say something, but eventually trails off. “That’s all, for now. I’ll let Winston know and then set up a time.”

 

Predictably, the base goes into a frenzy.

The first fear everyone has, voiced by Torbjörn, is about a tracker or other type of localization device, but Winston shoots it down, reminding them that the reason he recalled the team in the first place was that Talon had already been in Gibraltar.

They have turrets, shields, and security drones up and running now, any escapade like that wouldn’t go well for them. Hell, it didn’t go well even when the assassin called Reaper popped in the base to find Winston alone and with metaphorical pants down, trying to sneak in with the whole team home would be suicide.

Lena was much more empathetic, worrying that it was just a torture device Talon is using to instil pain in the subjects they had traded to the traffickers in exchange of weapons and tech, in order to ultimately kill them and remove all traces of a connection on the off-chance any of them escaped.

That would mean that Estrella’s parents didn’t just sell them to a random smuggling organization that might have masked a semblance of civility, they straight up gave their child up to Talon.

Jesse is suddenly not so sad they’re dead anymore.

It takes four hours for Mercy and Lúcio to emerge from the labs; and the sun is already almost completely set when they do.

Instead of having the entire team storm the medbay, they agreed to come to the rec room to give the news all at once.

Angela directs her gaze at McCree. “The good news is that the device is not designed to kill her, and now that it’s properly cooled it won’t cause her anymore pain.”

The cowboy’s shoulders do relax, but not completely. Hanzo, who has unconsciously remained by his side the entire time, speaks without looking up from where he’s resting his chin on his hands. “That implies that there is bad news as well.”

“The bad news is that we can’t surgically remove it, not yet.” The doctor confirms, “She already suffered enough of a physical trauma as is, and opening so close to the base of the head on a child so small is… risky at best.”

Hana looks back and forth from McCree to Hanzo. Neither of them is in any shape to ask –it’s only been a few days, but that child was heavily reliant on both of them, and the only surviving civilian in a botched mission only the two of them got to see the worst of, so of course they’d feel responsible.

She takes it upon herself to ask. “What about the device, what does it do?”

Lúcio is the one to speak up then. “It’s a beacon of sorts, but not for geo-location.” He assures, “Ever since activation, it’s been trying to send impulses to interface remotely with Athena, in particular with the communication system and transport logistics.”

Winston’s glasses almost drop from his face, and if he didn’t have fur he probably would be paling.

“This is intentional.” All eyes turn on him. “It has to be. I don’t know how Talon anticipated that we’d bring down those traffickers, maybe they didn’t and simply knew that they’d bite off more than they could chew eventually, but if the device is trying to get into comms and transport it’s not to find out where we are _now…_ ”

Reinhardt follows. “…but where we’re going to be, time and time again. In small, split teams that do not have the security and force of the Watchpoint itself.” The knight’s voice is bitter, almost disgusted at the thought. “Of all the vile and dishonourable tactics to deploy… on an innocent, no less…”

“Yeah, it’s one of the most fucked up things I’ve ever seen.” Lúcio agrees, thinking about the sheer degree of cruelty it takes, to set up something like that inside a child –and probably numerous other people as well– on the _off chance_ any of them survive and end up at Overwatch for whatever reason. “Right now Athena is deploying a quarantine protocol to defend from the hacking attempts, and we should be able to develop a proper defence algorithm soon enough, but we’ll have to run deeper checks to make sure nothing has been compromised already.”

“Any ways to neutralize the device without extraction?” the question comes from Genji, and Angela’s gaze softens on the cyborg –he’s used to having machinery inside of him and be okay with it, so of course he’d be the one to think outside the box and bring it up.

Her heart breaks a little as she shakes her head. “Unfortunately, the amount of electricity needed to externally short-circuit the device would be a shock too powerful and too close to the patient’s brain.” The people in the rec room go through different stages of upset, “I do not think she would survive the procedure.”

“ _Nobody_ will lay _one finger_ on the child.”

McCree jumps, not so much upon hearing Hanzo’s growl, but because of the lightning-fast flicker of blue energy coursing through the archer’s arm and shoulder. It was barely there and lasted for less than a second, but the cowboy feels Genji lock eyes with him through the visor and knows he didn’t imagine it.

“Of course not…” Winston guarantees. “We’ll just speed up the search for any living family she might have left, and in the meantime Mercy, Mei and Lúcio will work together to find a way to neutralize the device or remove it from the patient’s body in the least invasive way possible.”

The archer’s fists are still clenched, but he does offer a stiff nod.

“M-me?” Mei is understandably confused at first, “I’m just a climate researcher, I’m not… oh.”

A faint smile tugs at Angela’s lips when she doesn’t have to explain. Mei still asks out loud, just to be sure: “You want to see if manipulating the temperature on and around the device can disrupt it without any significant damage to the host—” there’s a flash of fury in two pairs of eyes that makes her correct herself “I mean, in the child?”

Mercy clears her throat and invites her down to the lab to discuss theories, and Winston declares the impromptu meeting adjourned for now, with instructions for all agents except the one who’ll be busy on the treatment to be in the meeting room first thing next morning to move out to all the reported locations that might have any information on one Estrella Tavares and/or her family.

“Lúcio?”

The musician never really knew how to act around Hanzo, the man’s countenance always giving him the impression of being somehow ‘judged’, but in this moment, as the archer looks at him, thinly masked worry darkening his face while his voice is low and unsure –like someone bracing for disappointment and refusal – he feels nothing but the need to reassure his comrade. “Yes?”

“Will it be possible to see the child?”

Lúcio is pretty sure his heart clenches a little, and smiles despite the situation they’re in. It’s adorable. “Well, I mean… she’s sedated and will probably sleep for the rest of the night…” out of the corner of his eye, he sees that even Genji’s antennas sag a little and it reminds him of a sad cat. It’s impossible not to break. “But I mean, if you guys wanna come check on her… Just, uh… let me know first, and maybe take turns and don’t stay too long?”

“That will be fine, thank you.” Lúcio knows even less how to respond to the respectful bow the archer gives him, deferring to him since he’s Mercy’s assistant in this and that kind of makes him a paramedic, but his smile does widen.

“No worries! Leave it to us!” and then, more affectionate and daring to place a hand on Hanzo’s shoulder, “Estrella will be fine, I promise.”

 

The next morning, three two-people teams go out: Tracer and Reinhardt fly out to the other side of Spain to check on an address where people who might have been related to the girl’s dead parents should live; Hana and Torbjörn go to investigate a bankrupt and now abandoned shop that was run by a Beatrix Celestino Tavares that could be connected to how Estrella’s parents fell into debt; and Hanzo and Zenyatta go to explore the hangout of a gang that might be responsible for suggesting where and to whom sell the child.

It took a lot of persuading to convince the archer to leave the child’s side before she even woke up, but both his brother and McCree promised him that they would be there and make sure she’d be okay in his absence.

«Face it, brother, you’re _so_ her adoptive dad.» the cyborg said, trying to lighten up the mood, but Hanzo just shook his head at him and left with a slight smile.

Back in the infirmary, Genji is pensive.

“Ya worried about yer brother?” McCree asks, as they sit by Estrella’s bed.

The ninja shrugs, knowing his friend wouldn’t be convinced that easily. “Maybe. A little.” There’s a pause. “Okay, yes. But not for today. In general.”

“Ya don’t say?” Jesse bites back a smile. Despite everything, it’s good to see the brothers worried for each other. It means they’re patching up. It means they still care.

Genji nods, taking off his visor and running a hand over his eyes, forehead and head. “It’s just… it’s exactly like him, to feel so responsible for something like this.” He says, watching the kid stir slightly, “It doesn’t even have to be because he’s starting to get attached, even though I know _I’m_ getting attached to the little munchkin and I’m just the weird cyborg uncle, it’s simply yet another life deemed expendable by a criminal organization and left to wither once it serves its purpose…”

History repeating itself, only worse. McCree can definitely see where Genji is going with this. “There’s so many things he hasn’t got over yet, and that he won’t talk about with me…” the cyborg continues, crossing his arms and curling into himself, “And some of it comes out projected towards the child. The Hanzo of the past, the one who got manipulated by the elders back in Hanamura, wouldn’t have thought twice about considering the child a liability and _eliminating_ such a threat.”

The seriousness those words are spoken with makes Jesse nearly flinch. “Yeesh. That bad?”

“Indeed. And yet you saw him, yesterday evening, how adamant he was about nobody harming the child.” Genji hunches even more into his own shoulders, “How conflicted it made him, to know that what he once considered the most logical course of action now disgusted him. It probably brought back… memories.”

The cowboy almost chuckles at the way his friend tries and fails to make himself small. “Look, Genji, ya can’t go blamin’ yerself for what your brother is going through… I mean, Hanzo’s got that role already taken up.” Genji punches him in the shoulder, but it’s worth the smile that he receives as well, “Maybe you two can talk it out once he comes back today, eh? But now look! Our princess is wakin’ up. D’ya wanna be the handsome prince?”

The ninja nearly punches him again for that remark, but his attention shifts to Estrella finally blinking fully awake and focusing on them. [Jessito? Where is Hanzo? What happened?]

[It’s okay babygirl, Hanzo just went out to work, but he’ll be back in time for bed tonight…] hopefully, but Jesse leaves that out, [How are you feeling, sweetiepie?]

[My neck hurts.] She tries to lift a hand to rub at her neck, but Genji stops her by gently grasping her fingers.

“It’s better if you don’t rub it, Estrella.” He tells her, “Do you remember anything?”

With some help, the child sits up. “I remember Hanzo. He said… there is thing in my neck…” remembrance brings along fear, and the kid looks near tears, [Am I going to die???]

[No, of course not, babygirl…] McCree is quick to assure, switching to English to subtly enlist Genji’s help in calming her down, “You’re not gonna die, yer fine, some bad people put that in you, but Angela cured you and put a little plaster on yer neck so it doesn’t hurt you no more.”

When she tugs at Genji’s hand in an attempt to get free it’s very weak, but the cyborg relents and she’s surprisingly careful in tracing the outlines of the tiny pieces of machinery applied to her skin –there’s a dull ache, similar to what one would feel with an IV in their hand or a newly applied piercing, and it dissuades the child from poking at it pretty fast. “What’s it mean?” she asks, looking between the both of them, “I’m scared…”

“Don’t be!” Genji finally attempts, “It just means you’re a cool cyborg, like me!” he assures, ruffling her hair, “We made super-sure the machine inside you won’t hurt anymore, and nothing bad is going to happen!”

Estrella looks up at him, hopeful but obviously still scared and far more willing to trust the grownups in this than when she’s her usual, spunky self. “Promise?”

“Pinky promise!” the cyborg offers, taking her pinky in his, “Look, I’ll even do my special cyborg magic to protect you!”

Which is giving the kid a kiss on the forehead while conspicuously making his vents release steam and running a bodily functions check that makes all the lights through his exoskeleton blink brighter before settling down. McCree can’t hold back his chuckle anymore, but it seems that the ninja’s idea succeeds in calming down Estrella a little bit, other than making her blush furiously and hide her smile behind her knees.

“See, Estrellita? You have nothin’ to worry about.” The gunslinger says, ruffling her hair as well –Hanzo is going to be so mad they ruined her braid, “You’re just gonna havta stay here a tiny bit longer, so Angelita can see that there’s nothing wrong with you, and then we can all go play together until Hanzo comes back.”

Genji rises to his feet at that. “I’ll go get her for you!” he offers, making his way out…

…and finding the doctor already outside the door. She’s smirking.

“Special cyborg magic?” it’s the first words out of her mouth, amusement dripping from every pore.

Genji remembers with no small amount of embarrassment that this part of the medbay is monitored.

“Um. Well.”

“You’re just a big softie, aren’t you? Zenyatta is right when he says you’re far gentler than you appear.”

The cyborg hastily puts his visor back on, if only to not feel so exposed –sometimes he forgets that people can see his facial expressions when he doesn’t have it. “W-why are you wasting time on me? Go check on your patient, for crying out loud!”

Jesse can’t help but laugh at the way Genji makes his exit, grumbling in Japanese and releasing one last, indignant puff of steam.

He really hopes their friends come up with something.

 

“This is… bollocks!” Tracer yells through the comm, after she gets over the shock. “Winston, do you copy?”

“I do, come in Tracer, what do you guys have for me?”

She looks over at Reinhardt, and the knight just shakes his head, as he continues to dig through the rubble, but it’s pretty apparent that nothing can be recovered. “We have… nothing.” She says dejectedly, “The entire place is burned to a crisp! Nothing but ashes and rubble!”

The scientist was afraid of something like this happening. “Nothing noteworthy?”

“Nothing salvageable.” Reinhardt’s voice pipes in, “But get this: it’s fresh. It’s no older than 36 hours. The air still vaguely smells like smoke, and some parts of the remains, towards the core of the fire, are even still warm.”

One day and a half. That’s how long the place has been marked as a destination in Athena’s database. Winston rubs at his eyes. “Someone is hiding their tracks.” Probably Talon –it goes through all of their minds without saying. “Try asking around. See if any of the locals saw what happened, but don’t attract too much attention and get the hell back as soon as you can.”

Just one out of three might still be a coincidence, but the scientist is already worried enough.

_“I do not detect any compromised components in the main frame, Winston. Would you like me to run a scan of all auxiliary frames as well?”_

“Yes, please, thank you Athena.” He doesn’t even try to hide it when he opens himself a jar of peanut butter. To each their own comfort food.

_“It will take a while to scan for the entire base, but I will inform you as soon as I can single out anything out of the ordinary.”_

Winston nods his thanks again and switches channels. “D.Va, do you copy?”

“Uhm…”

“D.Va?”

Hana clears her voice and tries again. “I do! I can hear you, it’s just…” she looks from Torbjörn, to their surroundings, to the body at their feet. “There’s nothing here. Beatrix Celestino Tavares is dead, and that is assuming the woman we found is even her, and both the shop downstairs and the apartment up here are empty. Ransacked even.”

Winston closes his eyes. _Two for two, then_. “Cause of death?”

“I’m no expert, but I’d say a faceful of shotgun shells.” The D.Va clears her voice and tries to keep it more professional when Torbjörn scowls at her for the slip-up. “The shotgun blast disfigured the victim’s face beyond repair; the body is cold, but not decomposing yet, so she hasn’t been dead for long.”

A day, at most. Even if the face is missing, dna would tell them whether it’s the woman they were looking for or not, but Winston is pretty sure it is. He sighs. “Look around, try to see if there’s evidence of anything being hauled or taken away, try asking around discreetly and report back here as soon as you can. Do _not_ engage any potential hostiles.”

Two teams down, one to go. The scientist doesn’t even want to begin thinking about how Hanzo will react if he too finds another empty murder scene. He starts scrolling through the bits of data they recovered from the broken tablet, that clearly didn’t belong to Estrella’s parents, if the pieces they have decrypted so far are anything to go by, and he waits for the third team to make their call.

 

The gang hangout is also completely thrashed, and Hanzo is scoping out the high ground to look for any sign of attackers going in and out, while Zenyatta looks at ground level to see if there’s anything worth noticing, amidst the rubble and bodies.

“Zenyatta, I see movement at your 0600!” the archer says through their comm, and the omnic doesn’t bother to turn as, with just a flick of his wrist, one of the orbs levitating around him flings itself at the moving object behind him, hitting the thug square in the face. The archer can’t help but comment. “Good toss.”

“Why thank you.” Zenyatta replies politely, turning to float over to the person who just flopped out on the ground from where they were hiding. “I apologize for hitting you, it was the fastest way to prevent your escape before we had a chance to converse. Are you injured? I will heal you.”

“S-Stay the fuck away from me!” the man barks, crawling backwards until his shoulders hit the rubble behind him.

Hanzo jumps down and opens the link to Winston. “We have an injured survivor, possibly hostile. Proceeding with interrogation.” He says, stepping towards the man.

Up close, the archer can see their captive holding a profusely bleeding side. He will probably die soon on his own from blood loss alone, and yet he refuses healing from Zenyatta on account of the fact that he’s an omnic. “Interrogation my ass! I ain’t gonna say a damn thing to you fuckers!”

 _Have I really been that dumb, too?_ It’s a question for another time, and Hanzo goes to face the thug. “Listen, now. You’re already dying.” He deadpans. “How painlessly you go depends entirely on how willing you are to cooperate. My friend over here might even be convinced to heal you up and let you live to be mankind’s scum another day.”

On cue, Zenyatta serenely floats a bit closer. The man squirms more.

“Estrella Tavares and her family.” The archer’s voice catches the man’s attention again, “Her parents sold her before dying, and your people were mediators in that transactions. I want everything you know.”

“Eat shit.” is the predictable answer, and for a moment Hanzo entertains the idea of employing yakuza tactics to make this little bird sing, but that would be dishonourable of him, not to mention the man’s already low on blood and might not survive the procedure.

“Look.” He starts, feeling the dragons stir restlessly within him, “I really would like not to waste an arrow popping off your kneecaps, as I’m sure you’d like to keep them. You think the omnic is bad? The real monster between us is _me…_ ” and it’s punctuated by a flickering of blue light along his tattoo that admittedly succeeds at scaring the thug even more, “…so if you want a quick and painless passing you better start talking. Estrella Tavares. Her parents sold her before dying.”

There’s a huff, but they know the man has relented. “Yeah, yeah, they sold the little bitch because they were fucking broke and wouldn’t give her to us for our price! We got ‘em into contact with a guy who was paying big bucks for a ‘healthy’ kid and we got a good percentage out of that.”

“Who?”

“Sorry, no names in this kinda deals.” The gangster shrugs, and coughs out a dark laugh, “Too bad they wouldn’t give her to us, though, bet she would’ve grown up _real_ nice…”

Hanzo nearly stabs him with an arrow for that remark, and Zenyatta nearly lets him. Nearly. The archer is startled when his teammate catches his wrist, but eventually calms down and looks back at the dying criminal. “Your greed came back to kill you. You really thought you could make deals with Talon and suffer no consequences? Did you see your attackers?”

“Hey, money was real good.” The thug rasps, he doesn’t have much left. “Fuck if I know. There was this one dude. Real creepy fella in black. White mask.”

Winston cuts through the interrogation: “That’ll be enough. Retreat _immediately_ , don’t engage with anyone else and don’t get seen!”

Of course. If Reaper was sent around to play executioner, it’s far better to not be caught unprepared and just regroup until they have something better planned.

That confirmed it at least, three for three. Talon knows they’re looking for the origins of the device and is covering up tracks. It will be sure once Athena completes the scan, but there’s definitely something already impaired in their system. Winston frowns to himself. Until they isolate and expel the threat, any plan or destination they set up will have to be considered compromised.

 

There is something both surreal and reminiscent about coming back to base to a child running into his arms. Hanzo only has three years on Genji, but there were times when he would come back home from meeting with their father, long, extenuating sessions to ‘prepare’ him to become the lord of the clan, and his brother would just run to him and hug him, as if to let out all the bad that happened and enjoy the good instead.

He never quite appreciated it properly. Genji is here as well, as Estrella demands to be picked up, and the archer locks eyes with him even through the visor.

«Welcome back, brother.» the cyborg says, turning to Zenyatta as well, “Master.” He adds with a polite bow.

«I’m back.» Hanzo answers, without thinking –the realization that he is indeed starting to consider Gibraltar his home coming a split second too late, and he can feel his brother’s smile.

“Howdy.” The archer’s eyes move to McCree, who is just straightening back up after dropping down Estrella so she could run into his arms, and the expression “sight for sore eyes” briefly crosses his mind. The gunslinger is a scruffy man on the best of his days and downright unkempt on the worst, but even so, his easy greeting and warm expression do wonders to ease the stress he was just under.

Zenyatta floats up to Genji and they exchange greetings. The fact that they don’t ask tells them Winston already relayed that the reconnaissance was a bust, but they’re probably still going to have to debrief. He doesn’t resist when Estrella demands to kiss his forehead, grumbling something about “special cyborg magic for protection” –he glances sideways at Genji and his brother has the decency to look sheepish about it, but he will have to ask later.

“Estrella, why don’t you go hug Zenyatta as well, and bestow your, um, magic on him, too?” he suggests, letting the child down, “I have to speak with Winston about the work I did today, I will come to you after that.”

The child relents only on the promise of dinner together, and one person from each team gathers in the meeting room with Winston to regroup and organize thoughts. Athena did find a damaged protocol, and has since isolated it, but there’s no telling how many files it could have infected before detection, and several ancillary scans will have to be run in order to be sure the systems have been properly cleaned out. In the meantime, they concluded that it was indeed Talon who planted the device on the child and they used the signal interference to precede them on their mission destinations –they all agree that they will have to be sure everything is cleaned out before any important missions pop up, or it’d be suicide – and their enemy is now covering their tracks in order to prevent them from neutralizing the beacon.

Decryption of the tablet data becomes of critical importance, as the files decoded so far confirm that it contains records of the deals between Talon and the traffickers and was likely lost in the fight that got the girl’s parents killed.

Dinner is a quiet affair, for those who still needed to have it, but by the end of it Hanzo is still feeling pretty beat. Estrella has fallen asleep on her chair, head leaning against his side, and the archer has to bite his lip to hide the smile. He picks her up and motions for McCree to follow.

“Would you do me the favour to tuck her in bed?” he asks the cowboy, once they’re both at his door, “I’m not going to sleep just yet, I wish to clear my head.”

Jesse smiles, as he takes the little girl from the other’s arms and answers in his usual easy drawl. “Sure thing, darlin’, but… ya sure you’re okay?”

“I’m sure. And don’t call me that.” He says, but with the child between them the only retaliation he can do is nudging the gunslinger’s shoulder with his forehead. Which looks and feels much more affectionate than it looks scathing. The archer prefers not to dwell on it and address the observer who thought he was being sneaky. “Yes Genji? I’m done here, we can go on the roof if you please.”

Both brothers ignore McCree’s sputters at being caught off-guard for the umpteenth time, and eventually the cowboy just grumbles about “sneaky Shimadas” and enters Hanzo’s room to go tuck Estrella in.

The night breeze is chilly but nice, on the base’s roof, but Genji doesn’t quite give him a chance to properly enjoy it, as he sits cross-legged and takes off his visor, smirking at him.

«So. That was friendly.»

Hanzo fights the urge to strangle him. «Don’t start, sparrow.» he warns, «It’s all your fault anyway, for putting thoughts in my mind.»

«So you _do_ have thoughts about him!» it sounds entirely too smug, and the archer goes for a change of topic.

«Ah, knock it off…» he complains, chuckling when he remembers, «Tell me, instead… _Special cyborg magic_?»

Genji actually blushes at that. «Don’t give me that look.» he mutters, «She was scared and crying. I improvised.»

«If I could be her father, then you can so be a good uncle.» it rolls off the archer’s lips before he realizes it, just as the cyborg’s answer comes up on pure instinct:

«Hey, I’d be a proud uncle of any child of yours.»

Predictably, silence falls between them. It’s not much at face value, but the implications of such a concept are many, and all very important to both brothers. There’s a million things Hanzo would like to say, but, not knowing where to begin, he opts for hugging his brother, one hand coiling around Genji’s midriff and the other resting on his brother’s cheek.

The cyborg is paralyzed for a second: not counting the day he got injured in battle and Hanzo lost control of his emotions, this is the first time that the archer is the one between them to initiate affectionate contact. It’s notable enough that Genji has to swallow down his breath as he returns the hug, wrapping both arms around his brother’s shoulders.

Face hidden in the crook of his brother’s neck, Hanzo finally finds the courage to ask. «Can you even feel that?»

«I…» in any normal context, the cyborg would have been able to go on an entire monologue, but words are momentarily failing him, «I can. I have… pressure and damage sensors, that act like tactile enhancers and pain receptors…» he recalls the doctor’s words almost mechanically, «…Also most of the plating on my upper body can come off, and I still have my skin… I can still feel. »

As if to prove it, he closes his eyes and leans more into the hand that Hanzo has on his cheek.

«I’m so sorry, little brother. » It’s the first time the archer actually says the words, in ten years of seeking atonement, and to Genji’s mechanical ears it sounds so broken and tired that there’s only one possible answer.

«It’s okay, big brother.» he snuggles more into the embrace, «We’re together now. And we’re free.»

They say nothing for the following moments, just sitting on the rooftop and hugging like little children after having been denied the luxury of brotherly affection for so many years.

«Okay, that’s enough.» Hanzo is the first one to pull away, with an amused smile on his face as he takes on a mock-stern voice, doing an impression his brother knows all too well: «Pull yourself together, Hanzo, that was unsightly for a clan heir!»

«Pff, oh my god, big brother, the only thing missing is the reading glasses and then you’re set!» Genji laughs as they resume just sitting side by side;

«Please, Genji, I’m not giving up my piercings.»

The cyborg goes from amused to disbelieving laughter. «You said you only had them done to change your face!»

«I said that doing so was a good idea.» Hanzo counters, not quite holding back the chuckle that comes along his brother’s one «I also happen to like them.»

«No kidding?» the only response that gets Genji is the archer sticking out his tongue at him and showing off another piercing, simple and unassuming, that surely can’t be for a tactical change of image. «Holy shit, big brother!» he’s downright cackling at this point. «Wait until McCree finds out!»

«Why would he need to find out?» it’s too fast to be casual, too curious to be indignant. Hanzo can only hope he’s not actually blushing, because grown men do not get red in the face like schoolboys with a crush, but his brother doesn’t relent:

«Are you kidding me? I bet it would drive him crazy~» he jokes, in a sing-song tone, before piping down the laughter and taking a slightly more serious tone. «You know, brother…» he starts, looking down at the archer’s smaller frame, «It is okay to let yourself have good things.»

«You speak as if you know already what I want...» Hanzo protests, but it’s soft and without any real bite, «…or that the cowman even wants the same thing in the first place.»

Genji can see where he’s coming from on that one. Jesse is a great guy, but most of his behaviour makes him seem terribly… ‘casual’. He knows his brother is not that type of guy. «Maybe not…» he concedes, with a shrug, «But would it hurt so much to try? I have it on good authority that he respects you a great deal.»

The archer relents as well, standing up and dusting off to go back to his own room. «I’ll think about it.»

«And hey, if it’s not like that and he’s just being a pervert, I can help you beat him up!»

« _Goodnight_ , Genji.» of course his brother wouldn’t miss the chance to be an irritating little devil. Hanzo takes his leave with a huff, even as his brother laughs while heading down to his own quarters.

Still, the amused smile lingers on the archer’s face as he goes to his room, and the warmth of their hug –his own body heat complemented by the semi-artificial one of Genji’s exoskeleton– is still fresh enough to remind him that it was there, and it was real.

Maybe it really is okay to let himself have good things. The thought freezes in his head as he opens the door to his room: McCree did indeed tuck Estrella in his bed, but somewhere along the way of that he also fell asleep on the edge of the mattress by the child’s side. It’s almost a comical sight, tall and big as the gunslinger is, clumsily draped on one side, as if to shield the kid from anything that could come at them, but it strikes something tender in the archer’s chest all the same.

Genji’s words still in his head, Hanzo just bites back a chuckle, as he takes the hat off of McCree’s head and places it on the nightstand. He makes quick and silent work of changing into his sleepwear for the night, and simply walks to the other side of his bed, glad that it is somewhat big enough, provided they don’t move around too much, and turns off the lights before laying down on Estrella’s other side.

He closes his eyes with a whisper barely on his lips. “Sleep well, cowboy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do let me know how you're liking it so far, I really hate it when I'm shooting in the dark.  
> (And I would also like to take this chance to thank again all the beautiful people who left their opinions down below, you're the ones who make me want to write more as soon as one chapter comes out!) <3
> 
> Also I'm thinking of involving Morrison and Reaper too (well, more Reaper), I'm just not quite sure how yet.  
> Open to suggestions on that front.


	9. Points and Segments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team discovers that there might be more players in the field than they originally thought.  
> Estrella is a good girl.  
> Being a little shit is apparently as much of a Shimada family trait as the dragons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [this] is Spanish and «this» is Japanese (though I don't think there's any Japanese in this chapter)
> 
> Whew, this was difficult to pull out so fast! XD  
> I have lots of work tomorrow, so I knew for sure I wouldn't be able to update anything before Saturday, and even that will be a gamble, as I get off at 6pm and I don't know how tired I'll be.  
> Either way, have this.  
> I love these dorks so much.  
> And Genji.  
> And Estrella.  
> And everyone.  
> I got an inspiration to give Torbjorn some more screen time as well, but that's for future chapters.

Waking up in Hanzo’s bed is an experience in and on itself. McCree doesn’t quite know, at first, groggily recalling putting Estrella to bed but still expecting to see himself in his own room. Opening his eyes to a mess of blond hair and bedsheets is surprising, as is his flesh arm haphazardly draped over the little girl’s figure, but that’s not what makes him start fully awake. What does it is the hand on his forearm, warm and inviting; that his gaze follows through tattooed skin disappearing underneath the grey t-shirt and then looks all the way up to the archer’s sleeping face.

Hanzo is on the other side of the bed, sleeping soundly in a position mirroring his own, the child protectively nestled between them, face buried in the man’s chest.

Jesse falls off the bed with a yelp he will never admit to squawking out, not even on his deathbed.

[Jessito? Did you have a bad dream?]

The gunslinger is still too busy trying to rein in his thoughts as they go a mile a minute –wondering why Hanzo didn’t just kick him out last night, why would he let him sleep on his bed, and how did they end up basically holding each other– so he doesn’t really answer Estrella’s call, doesn’t even look up until he hears the archer chuckle.

“The one time I could have used a couple more minutes…” he fake grumbles, and his face just about floors McCree. “You are more trouble than you’re worth, cowboy.”

He’s suffered enough embarrassment and vague threatening from Genji to know that maybe his respect and admiration for the archer is something more, and maybe not as subtle as he’d like to think he is, so he has no problems with admitting to himself –and only himself– that a slightly ruffled, smiling Hanzo Shimada that looks at him with bed hair and shakes his head makes his mouth go dry.

The only reason he doesn’t blush is probably because his face is not the direction his blood is going right now.

_Yeesh, get a grip, McCree, there’s a child!_

Jesse hides the way his voice cracks with a cough. “Ah, I’m mighty sorry for imposing…” he says, standing up to find his hat and trying to regain his usual “rugged charm” –not an easy feat after just waking up and making an idiot out of himself, but the effort is there “I uh, hope I wasn’t too much of a hassle.”

Hanzo seems to genuinely consider it, as he runs his hands through his hair in a momentarily futile attempt to get it under control. “Well…” he muses pretending to seriously assess it, voice slightly hoarse from sleep that does no favours to the cowboy’s imagination, “You do snore. But you don’t move around too much, so at least we didn’t squish Estrella.”

Speaking of. “And how did you sleep, honeysuckle?” he turns to the child and asks her, softly pinching her cheek, “Are you feeling better?”

Estrella nods proudly and crosses her arms. “Of course!” she declares, “I’m a cool cyborg now, so I can keep you safe!”

Of course. Hanzo closes his eyes. He’s going to have _words_ with Genji about letting the child believe she can fight. Then the archer gets hit with how entirely… domestic this feels, and it throws him for a loop. It’s surreal, it’s a grotesque imitation of a real domestic image, what even are their roles in this absurd scene of playing house? He shakes his head when he realizes he’s been having to _remind_ himself that Estrella is not his daughter. This is not for him to have, what real family he had was ruined by his own hand, and he _just_ started patching up with Genji— _‘You know, it is okay to let yourself have good things.’_

He exhales. It’s not his daughter, but it is a child in his care and it’s his duty to protect her as long as she’s here. Maybe e’ll even let Genji off the hook for the cyborg thing.

“That is nice, Estrella.” He just says, opting for not lecturing the kid so early in the morning, “But cool cyborgs have to shower, too. How about you wash first? I’ll do your braid for you when you come out.”

“Can I wear the dinosaur shirt again?”

“You can wear the dinosaur shirt.” The archer concedes, pointedly ignoring McCree’s chuckle at the interaction, “But we’re going to have to wash it tonight, so you better find something else you like in the clothes Lena bought you for tomorrow.”

Estrella just beams at the permission to wear what instantly became her favourite shirt, and all but jumps from the bed, gathering her clothes and running for the bathroom, “Vale!”

“And make sure to thank Lena today, for getting you all these nice clothes, I don’t think you ever did!”

“I said vale! Yeesh!” is the grumpier reply as the door slams shut, and the Spanish mutters that come out after have Jesse chuckling at the child’s obvious language.

Hanzo himself is slowly learning to recognize various variations of “puta” and “mierda”, and just shakes his head with a sigh. He is only slightly startled to see the cowboy sit on the edge of the bed with him, rubbing at the point where flesh meets metal on his left arm, as he looks around and seems to assess the room, with the few and spars decorations and Estrella’s things as one of the few things to actually make the place lived in, together with Stormbow, a dream catcher, of all things, and the barest hint of clutter on his desk.

“Sorry ‘bout crashin’ in yer room. It was mighty nice of ya to let me stay.” He says, looking anywhere but at the archer.

“Well, kicking you out would have meant disturbing the child.” It starts as a barb, but it loses his bite after Hanzo has a chance to look at Jesse’s sleep-mussed form. “I’m sorry for leaving you like that. I didn’t know how much you would have liked any… interference.” A nod towards the undoubtedly sore arm under the prosthetic clues McCree in to what the other means.

It makes him feel oddly warm that the archer even thought about giving him such consideration. It also makes him realize that, despite Genji’s amused accusations, this isn’t just lust. It can’t be. “Aw shucks, darlin’ don’t worry about it, it’s fine.” He is quick to say, standing up and stretching his arms above his head as if to make a point that it’s fine –he has his back slightly to Hanzo, so he misses the way the archer’s eyes follow his body and would probably agree that it sure does look fine– “I’ve had ta keep it on for days and days on missions. Ya know how it is. One night won’t kill me, I’m made of sturdy stuff.” He punctuates the last part with a wink, and Hanzo looks away.

“If you say so.” He moves to get up himself, but stops short when he feels a familiar tingle of energy. So far, it’s only been coming out when he was either too tired to keep it at bay, or in situations of dire stress, but this time he can’t deny the pull. It’s subtle, but it’s something visceral inside him, urging him to stake his claim. He grabs his shoulder while trying to make it look like he’s just stretching his arm as well, willing himself under control. Luckily for everyone involved, his dragons do not stir more than that and he avoids having to explain sudden blue glows to the cowboy –not to mention how embarrassing it would have been to have to tell why it was happening while he was in _bed_ , so the archer is sure relieved when his breathing calms down.

Jesse does look at him from the corner of his eye, but he’s too busy appreciating the rarity of a dishevelled Hanzo to try and take stock of the archer’s nuanced expressions. He clears his voice, grasping for something to say, but is spared from having to do so by Estrella’s return.

She has her favourite blue dino shirt and a denim skirt with beads sewn in here and there. She’s nothing short of precious, and holds out her ribbon to Hanzo expectantly.

The archer kneels behind her and takes the ribbon, combing through her hair with his fingers as he starts weaving it through. “Hm, tonight or tomorrow we will have to ask Angelita to help wash your hair.” He ponders, Spanish endearment stumbling out of his mouth before he knows it, realistically because he knew the child would more easily recognize that he was talking about Mercy, but it pulls a chuckle out of McCree all the same.

The cowboy is not deterred by Hanzo’s glare. “Ya have a funny accent on ya, anybody ever told you?”

“Say that again to me when you learn Japanese, cowboy.” He shoots back with a smirk –Genji had told him of some attempts to teach Jesse some basic words and how they ended.

“Why, ya offerin’ to teach me?” McCree asks, rising his eyebrows at him, but the archer doesn’t take the bait.

“I’d rather not grow old and die while attempting to teach you basic greetings.” He quips, then dropping the topic altogether and nodding in the bathroom’s direction. “Feel free to freshen yourself before going back to your room, while I finish here.”

Jesse is almost about to refuse, not wanting to spend that much time in close quarters with the archer and risk saying or doing anything inappropriate, but his limbs are sore from sleeping in a weird position and a quick warm shower does sound really nice. Plus, Hanzo offered, it’s only gracious to accept –Japanese folks care about that, right? Being a proper guest and all that. “Why, thank ye kindly, darlin’.”

Hanzo rolls his eyes at the pet name, but doesn’t say anything more. He doesn’t even look at him when he comes back out, but he does ask that he watch Estrella as he goes to wash himself, despite the child’s protests of being a big girl _and_ a cool cyborg, and thus needing no ‘puto’ guardian.

She eventually makes an exception for her Jessito, and they’re playing thumb wars by the time the archer is finished with his hakama and kyudo-gi.

“I’ll walk her down to have breakfast.” He offers, eyes trained at the door –he might be trying too hard not to look, but McCree doesn’t need to know that today’s shower was a cold one. “You can go back to your room and change.”

McCree almost waves him off, seeing as yesterday’s clothes can do just fine for him, but then catches a reflection of himself in the mirror and realizes the implications of coming down from the dorms with an untucked, unbuttoned shirt after having slept in Hanzo’s room.

 _Japanese folks care about that kind of things, propriety and such._ He feels like an idiot for not being able to pinpoint the archer’s discomfort from earlier, Hanzo is probably not even into him, he muses, traded barbs and stimulating little battles of wits notwithstanding, _of course_ it’d be embarrassing to be seen together like this, it would be impossible for people not to assume. Once more, he coughs awkwardly to himself.

“Yeah, I uh… I’ll see ya down.” It feels even more awkward when Hanzo opens the door for him before they go their separate ways, and yet… thinking back to the image of waking up to a sleepy, unkempt Hanzo muttering teasing words at him, Jesse’s stomach does a flip.

_It was totally worth it._

 

Breakfast is a quick thing for Estrella, since she’s going to have a schedule now –it helped a great deal that Hanzo was there to reassure her, and Genji as well as he played the “cool cyborg friends” card, and the child wasn’t too scared of going with Lúcio and Mercy for today’s series of tests. It also helped that Lúcio had the foresight of installing the outlet on Estrella’s skin in such a way that no further operations would be needed to interact with the device.

Which now leaves Hanzo alone at the breakfast table with a suspiciously beaming Genji.

“Do not mind him.” Zenyatta assures, “I was just relaying some events from our mission yesterday and I suspect he will stay catatonic with glee for another couple seconds.”

The cyborg looks caught, but chuckles nonetheless. “You wound me, Master!”

Hanzo raises an eyebrow at that. “Talking about a man behind his back?” he muses, growing only the tiniest bit suspicious when the omnic titters a robotic chuckle.

“Only good things, I assure you.”

“From you? I’m sure.” The archer says, with a slight bow, then looking up to smirk at his brother, “From the Green Devil? I highly doubt it.”

“Green Devil?” Zenyatta turns to face his student inquisitively, “I believe there’s a story behind this that I have not heard, my student.”

Steam goes off from his brother’s sides, and Hanzo knows he is blushing underneath the visor, “Well, the Green part starts with him chopping off most of his hair and dying it neon green at 16 years old…”

“Aniki, I swear…”

“As for the Devil part…” the archer heaves a dramatically long sigh, before rising his gaze back up and nodding at Genji with a smirk, “Can you actually take a good look at _that_ face and not know what I mean?”

Zenyatta’s little chuckle echoes again, so much so that a hand goes up to cover a mouth that doesn’t really open. Apparently, the fact that said ‘face’ is hidden behind the visor at the moment is irrelevant. The cyborg doesn’t know whether to be happy to not be seen blushing furiously or pissed that both men can read him so easily. He huffs angrily just before his mentor’s hand comes to rest at the side of his head and he just stops thinking.

“Now, now, my student, it was only a bit of fun…” the omnic says placidly, “You were the one telling me just now, how happy you were to hear that your brother called me his friend. Sharing jests with family is simply part of such natural progression.”

Begrudgingly, Genji has to admit he’s right. Actually, that was an understatement. Knowing his brother’s previous misconceptions on omnics, he’d been absolutely ecstatic to hear that, albeit unconsciously, Hanzo used the word “friend” to speak about Zenyatta.

“What’s that sound?” his brother’s voice startles the cyborg out of his musing, and he turns to face him as Zenyatta’s hand leaves his faceplate.

“I… don’t hear anything?”

Hanzo leans over from his seat. “It’s coming from you.” He states, once sure he assessed the sound’s origin properly.

“It’s wha— oh, the cooling response…” right. His cyborg body is silent 90% of the time, but there are hisses and whirrs sometimes that he has long learned to ignore, “Sometimes it happens if my body temperature gets too high for the vent’s sensors, it only lasts a couple of minutes.”

“It sounds like you’re purring.” The archer can’t help but reach out just under his brother’s jaw, if only to test if that’s actually where the vibrations come from.

“It’s not _purring_! It’s an automated cooling response!” Genji tries to be indignant, he does, but his brother is basically giving him scratchies on his weak point and he relaxes into it, whether he wants it or not.

“You’re purring. This would make you fall _asleep_ when we were kids.”

“Okay that’s enough!” the cyborg bats Hanzo’s hands away and clutches protectively at his neck until the response noise stops, and it’s only because of that that he notices Zenyatta has been very silent for the last few seconds, head tilted in a way that tells Genji he’s thinking very hard about something. “M-master?”

“It is nothing, my student.” The omnic assures, one hand coming to rest on his armored shoulder, “Somehow, every day you endear yourself to me in new ways. Come now, it’s a very sunny day, perfect for meditating in the forest.”

If Genji had been blushing before, he was beet red by now. Compliments by one’s mentor don’t come so often, and never quite this open. As he stands up to follow Zenyatta out, he notices Hanzo from the corner of his eye, discreetly winking at him and mouthing “you’re welcome”.

 _Did my brother just push me around to make my master call me cute?_ One part of him really wanted to be mad at the teasing, but another part was impressed –he almost forgot that his brother is smoother than he gets credit for, and apparently he’s a damn good wingman. Or would be, if Genji had in any way been interested in that sort of relationship with Zenyatta.

Which he is obviously _not._ He’s more serious than that, now.

Also he totally does _not_ purr.

 

The morning in the Watchpoint passes fast either way, with people going about their business, doing training drills or just hanging out.

McCree finds Hana crashed on the couch in the rec room, and just shakes his head , taking off his sarape and draping it on her sleeping form. Poor thing probably stayed up all night playing one of her games.

“Hey there, luv!” Tracer calls, before noticing Hana and lowering her voice, “I was looking for you, this morning!”

“What for, darlin’?” Jesse smiles back at his friend and guides her away from the sleeping D.Va,

“The aim on one of my pistols feels off, like something knocked it out of balance, and I wanted your professional opinion…” Lena explains, trailing off at the end and running one hand through her short jet-black hair.

“Now, that sounds mighty important pumpkin! If yer free now, we can head on over ta the practice range and fix this problem faster than green grass through a goose!” he assures, steering them both towards the training grounds, “I’m sorry we missed each other this morning, I was kinda… up late.” The cowboy doesn’t really want to go into detail as to why.

The grin on Lena’s face tells him that he doesn’t need to. “Would that have anything to do with how I saw you leave Hanzo’s room with damp hair and barely a shirt on?”

“Damnit Lena, not you too!” it takes a split second for McCree to realize that his frustration makes him look all the more guilty. “Look, none of whatever yer thinkin’ happened, okay? I just crashed there after putting Estrellita to bed.”

Tracer listens quietly, not even pretending to cover her grin as she nods. “Uh-huh.”

“Hanzo was just a proper host an’ let me use his shower, is all.”

“Most definitely.” The more they go on, the more the girl’s agreeing sounds fake to his ears.

“Man, I already got Genji on my case about this, we’re just friends! Honest!”

That one has Lena laughing. “Oh my God, are you telling me Genji is doing the psychotic brother thing to protect Hanzo’s graces?!” she almost actually squeals, “That’s adorable.”

Jesse feels like his plight is being vastly ignored. “It’s really not. Also, we’re not like that!”

“Yeah, you said it enough times, luv…” Lena says, finally piping down a bit, “What I don’t get is why. I mean, you obviously have a thing for the man, haven’t you?”

A couple of days ago, the gunslinger would have sputtered at the mere implication, but despite his reputation he’s no fool so he just sighs. “Yeah well. He don’t see me that way. We’re just sniper buddies.”

“He let you _sleep_ and _shower_ in his room.”

“Aw, don’t go pulling my leg like that, babygirl.” McCree jokes, not really taking her seriously, “He was just bein’ a proper host, like all them Japanese folk.”

“He is on very good terms with Hana and she’s not even remotely allowed in his room.”

“That’s just because that girl’s a typhoon.”

“If you say so.” Tracer concedes, then taking on a wicked grin as they reach the range, “Doesn’t quite explain why he flirts back when you throw pick-up lines at him through the comms, but whatever you say, luv.”

That settles it, Jesse is going to help Lena fix the balance on her gun, and then he’ll absolutely demolish her in the simulation.

 

It’s in the early afternoon that things really get busy. All salvageable data on the tablet has been decoded, and Winston calls all the available personnel to the meeting room.

“Other than numerous deals and contacts that are of no significance right now but will prove useful to attack Talon’s influence in the future, the most immediate thing to catch our attention is the human trade.” The scientist begins, “The decryption confirms that it does indeed belong to Talon, and that it was them to procure the, uh, subjects for the traffickers, in exchange for stolen schematics on the latest pulse rifle tech. The peculiar thing is that it specifies to keep some of them in good health: Subjects E5, R16, J07, A3 and J4.”

“Estrella.” Jesse pales, not quite able to contain his choked whisper. “Rico, Jovita, Amauris, Javier.”

Winston nods. “That was my assumption as well. It’s possible that an autopsy on the other bodies would have revealed devices in them as well. As of now we can only assume, but it’s a pretty safe assumption. The exchange contract said to keep them alive until no longer possible, but when we assaulted the traffickers’ hideout we probably made them panic and they decided to try and destroy all evidence of their link to Talon.”

Talk about a day later and a dollar short. Hanzo has to take a breath to unclench his jaw enough to speak. “Does the data say anything about the device?”

“It does. Not about deactivation, but we have enough specifics on its workings to properly shield Athena for any future hacking attempts, so we can now take time and be careful about its eventual removal from Estrella’s body.” That’s relieving to hear, for everyone involved. “Lúcio, Angela and Mei have already been informed through the comms and are working on it –Lúcio is already taking care of the protocols needed to completely secure Athena, while Mei and Angela are doing some preliminary tests with the child.”

“So now what? We resume to regularly scheduled missions?” Genji asks, not quite sure about what they’ll do about the child then…

Winston shrugs slightly. “Not quite. We will indeed resume missions, but there’s still the fact that Talon seemed very intent on not letting us find out about this device, not to mention the involvement of the assassin known as Reaper.” He explains, pulling up the mission reports from the day before on the screens. “Accounts on all three ruined sights reported his appearance one way or another.” The scientist enlarges the first one, “Seen leaving the area during the fire by a terrified witness…” then the second one, “Allegedly seen around the murder scene engaged in combat with the vigilante known as Soldier76…” and then the third one, “Directly pointed out as responsible for the attack by a survivor.”

 _“I have searched the tablet for any mentions of the assassin called Reaper, but there are none. My estimate is that he was not directly involved in the deals, but rather employed as a mercenary hand to round up all witnesses and evidence, and eliminate them.”_ Athena’s voice finishes for Winston, and she continues. _“With the updates Lúcio has been transferring to me, I have located one last corrupted file in the system whose origin I can’t trace. Shall I quarantine it for further examination or delete it?”_

“Just delete it, Athena. The more we’re sure your system is completely clean, the better.”

_“Acknowledged.”_

There’s a silence that is nothing short of embarrassing, for a group of highly trained fighters.

“Alrighty, somebody’s gotta say it and it seems it gotta be me.” Jesse speaks up, tilting his hat and sitting up straighter. “We gotta tell the little girl her family ain’t around no more. An’ we oughta talk about what comes after.”

“Yes to the first part…” Genji agrees with a nod, “But for now, we can’t let her leave Watchpoint: Talon seems awfully hell-bent on wiping out the traces to this tech they’re using, my guess is that they don’t want to run the risk of being traced… what would happen if we were to let the last one of their ‘subjects’ walk around Spain with no protection?”

“Seconded.” Reinhardt immediately says, “Even if it can’t be a permanent solution, until the device is destroyed or nullified we can’t leave that innocent without any defence.”

Hanzo bites back a smile. _You weirded me out at first, but you’re rapidly becoming one of my favourites, knight man._

“We also should try talking to her more.” Torbjörn then suggests. “I’ve seen her just a little, but she’s a mighty smart child, if a bit feisty. She obviously was Talon’s prisoner before the traffickers, and even if to her that was all one big ocean of bad, maybe she can remember something that could be useful to us.”

That may be true, but something so sensitive would be hard to get out, unless there is a base of complete trust… which makes all eyes point at McCree and Hanzo.

The archer wants badly to refuse, but he only sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose just under his piercing, and concedes an exasperated nod. It’ll be a hard task to coax the child to talk about it without angering or scaring her, but they can try. “I am not agreeing to anything that will hurt her, physically or otherwise, but I will try to ask what she can recall.”

“I will assist you in such an endeavour, should you need it.” Genji couldn’t be more proud to see his brother and his mentor cooperating so seamlessly. It’s a far cry from when Hanzo first heard about Zenyatta, back during his very first days at the Watchpoint, meeting his claims with disdain and incredulity, full of his old prejudices about omnics; and look at him now. The cyborg smiles wide behind his visor.

The meeting is adjourned, and McCree is the first one to head out and down to the medbay, to pick up what will surely be a very bored and disgruntled Spanish fury.

Estrella is all too happy to be allowed to go play again, and she enthusiastically tells the cowboy how Lúcio is “cool for a doctor” and how he let her wear his headphones and Angelita didn’t hurt her even one little bit since she’s such a good doctor, and even though she had never seen Mei before, the little girl defines her soft and squishy and overall nice since she brought sandwiches for lunch.

“That’s very nice Estrellita, you’ve been a good, brave girl.” Jesse remarks, patting her head and letting her jump up and down on the couch. “What do you want to do now?”

“I want snacks!” it’s not as much a request as it is a demand, and the gunslinger should probably chastise her about saying it politely like Hanzo does, but alas, he’s weak to cuteness. “And then I want to play floor is lava again! Renardo can be the lava monster!”

The nickname makes McCree chuckle. To be fair, “Reinhardt” is a very hard name for a 6-year old Spanish girl to pronounce, and the knight doesn’t mind. He sticks around, since Estrella wants him to be an explorer together with her, but a man his size jumping from couch to couch has some obvious mobility problems, and eventually the child declares that he sucks and invites Hana to be her partner instead.

Jesse pretends to be sad and wounded, and that gets him a kiss on the forehead and a [Don’t worry Jessito, you’re good at cards and thumb wars, I still like you!] that makes him way happier than it really should.

He heads over to the practice range, to get a few rounds in against Hanzo before dinner.

It is a Thursday, after all.

“You’re late, _vaquero_.” is what the archer greets him with, as soon as he steps through the threshold.

“Excuse you!” he protests, mimicking the other’s haughty tone, “I was busy fighting off Renardo the lava monster, what have _you_ been doing with your time?”

Hanzo bites his lower lip, trying not to grin. He manages a sideways glance at McCree’s face, but has to look away not to smile too widely. “Fair enough, you’re excused.” He says, starting up their favourite practice sim before Jesse just stops him.

“Hey, how about we spar, for today?”

The idea is nothing if not intriguing. “Hm?”

“We start long-range, first one out of blank shots will have to charge.” That could work, but Hanzo’s quiver holds fifteen arrows blunted as they may be, so it would be quite the unfair advantage. He goes to remove nine. “Hey now, ya don’t have to do that—”

“I’m not doing it as a courtesy to you, I just want to make sure you will not claim unfair upper hand when you inevitably lose.” The archer lets his mischievous side take over once more, as he winks again, feeling like it would fluster his sparring partner a bit, and McCree’s indignant sputter is nothing short of precious.

“Them’s fighting words, kyuudoka-san.”

If Hanzo is impressed with the fact that the gunslinger has learnt the Japanese word for archer (and not just any archer, but the kind of archer that practices kyuudo), he doesn’t let it show. They give a quick salute and start their round.

Not too surprisingly, the one to first run out of ammunition is Jesse, if only because Hanzo is much more conservative with his ammo, especially when he’s down to two. The cowboy waits for the second-to-last shot to zip by and then takes charge.

Hanzo deflects the first few blows, using Stormbow as a makeshift short-staff, but eventually McCree uses his much bigger size to his advantage and, as soon as he can get one foot in the archer’s stance, trips him and knocks him down, kneeling over to place a mock-finishing blow as Hanzo’s hands scramble around his back for purchase.

Athena’s voice rings through:

_“Winner: Agent Hanzo.”_

“Wait what? Athena, did I or did I not knock his ass down?” Jesse is confused to say the least.

_“Agent Hanzo is indeed on the floor, but had it been a real fight you would have been killed during the fall, not after, Agent McCree.”_

The cowboy leans slightly back with surprise and feels the tip of an arrow graze is neck. When he looks back down at Hanzo, he’s smirking. “Well, shit, darlin’.” He whistles, “You’d really stab me in the neck with an arrow?”

The archer chuckles, low and steady and reminding McCree of dark chocolate and other things that are smooth and good, especially when he realizes that, sitting as they are in a heap of limbs on the ground, he can feel the vibration of that laughter in his own body. “To wipe the cocky grin off your face? I would take _special pleasure_ in stabbing you with arrows in any number of places.”

Jesse gulps. That’s an innuendo right there. Or, well, maybe not or if it is he’s not getting it, but he’s not imagining the sultry “come hither” voice, he can’t be. The only question is, is Hanzo really flirting with him or is he using his yakuza trick again because he mistook McCree’s own flirting with friendly banter?

He tries his luck and leans a bit forward. “Yeesh, sweetheart, don’tcha think that’s a little excessive?”

The archer leans up on his forearms, face inches from Jesse’s. “It did catch me back up to your score, so… we’re all tied up now.”

 _If you’re into that, sugar, that can be arranged._ McCree has to bite his lip to keep that remark from coming out –flirting a little is one thing, jumping straight into bondage propositions is a bit too forward, even for him. He feels Hanzo’s hand on his chest and nearly throws the last shreds of his decency to the wind right then and there, but the archer’s words clue him back into reality. “Get up. We should go see whether Estrella has had dinner or not.”

The gunslinger tries not to make it too obvious when he scrambles off, playing it as cool as he can, and even advances one last request. “Naw, yer not even gonna gimme a rematch? I’d really love a chance to knock yer ninja ass to the floor some more.”

When Hanzo sidesteps him entirely too close for comfort and leans to whisper right in his ear, it’s _definitely_ intentional. “Keep dreaming, cowboy.”

Jesse is definitely flustered and takes a couple of second to gather his wits back before following the archer out, which suits Hanzo just fine, considering he himself his stealthily taking a deep breath to keep himself under control. Pretending to seduce someone you don’t give a crap about comes easily, actually trying to show an interest in someone without falling in the fake mannerism is tough –especially considering the temptation to shield yourself behind a confident, sexy person that’s not really you is high when you’re afraid of rejection– but hey, he did it (sort of), and the cowboy’s reactions are promising.

Evening meditation with Genji and Zenyatta will surely prove to be entertaining. Genji is not going to let him live it down, at the very least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can NOT tell me Genji's antennas don't look like cat ears. Also he totally purrs. (it's not my dea, I just remember reading this one comic and it was hilarious and I cannot find the author for the life of me but omg was it hilarious.)  
> Also: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR ALL THE NICE COMMENTS.  
> I can't stress this enough, all the encouragement I'm receiving is really what's keeping this going.  
> I'm so happy everyone is liking the story so far, and by all means I'm open to all kinds of suggestions :)


	10. Back to regularly scheduled mayhem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something is not quite right.  
> But at least they have each other's back.  
> And when all else fails, they can get shitfaced and laugh about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUCKING HELL this took long.  
> Sorry. Work swarmed me, I have two jobs.  
> Well, two and a half.  
> Also the cutest thing happened to me on friday: I was walking the last of the way home from work, after finishing late, and one of the neighborhood cats walks up to me. I kneel and extend my hand, and he immediately puts his head on my fingers and demands to be pet.  
> He's a beautiful grey and black cat with green eyes. I called him Genji and he meowed at me.  
> I know he actually has owners in one of the houses near mine and is just free to go out because our street is safe, but that cat is now Genji to me. I will cuddle him lots every time I see him.
> 
> EITHER WAY.  
> New chapter, yaay! as usual: «this» is Japanese and [this] is Spanish.
> 
> enjoy.

A few days go by, rounding up to a full week of Estrella in Watchpoint: Gibraltar. Lena is now the proud owner of a stick-figure drawing with two little characters holding hands and an endearingly squiggled “Gracias para the clothes”; Lúcio is making great progress on Athena’s security updates, and Estrella is not scared to spend a couple of hours in the med-bay with Mei and Angela every other day anymore.

Winston clears a team of six for a mission.

It should be a fairly simple operation: there’s a rumour according to which a stolen piece of Vishkar technology has or could end up in Talon hands and they’re trying to smuggle it on European soil; and the Overwatch operatives will try to intercept it in London, coordinates set and two more days of prep and simulations carried out.

They have actually been contacted by Vishkar for that, and while Lúcio didn’t particularly like it, sending the tech back to the rightful (if untrustworthy in his humble opinion) owner is definitely better than letting Talon have it. And at least the musician has a valid reason for sitting this one out: he’s working alongside Angela and Mei to try and uncover the weaknesses in the device still disturbing poor Estrella’s peace.

With Genji also staying behind to take care of the child, Reinhardt and McCree are sent to take point, Hana and Hanzo as support and high-ground sniping, Zenyatta as their healer and Tracer as their pilot.

It’s going to be the longest time Estrella spends without her two rescuers, but she seems enough at ease around Genji –baby crush aside.

They were expecting heavy opposition –hence the knight’s presence as a literal human shield – and yet, when they touch down, everything is silent.

“Ya sure this is the right place, Tracer?” McCree asks as they unload from the transport, guard still up but confusion apparent in everyone.

Lena would almost be offended at the question if the warehouse that was supposed to be heavily guarded didn’t look so damn _empty._ “The coordinates are exact, luv. I don’t know what to tell you.” She mouths into the comm, peering at the moving figures of her teammates from the transport.

“Somethin’ ain’t right.”

Hanzo’s dry chuckle interrupts the cowboy’s musings: “In other news: the sky is blue.”

“Don’t sass me.”

“You’re asking for it.”

“Get a room, you two!” Hana is clearly fed up with their blatant flirting over the comms, especially because the second they come face to face all that confidence wanes, in both of them, and they refuse to ever approach the mater. Not everyone has picked up on it, but she, Genji, Lena and to a lesser degree Zenyatta are just about ready to bash those two idiots’ heads together and yell “kiss!”

The archer ignores the statement, but does clear his voice. “The place seems completely abandoned. I’ll scout the rooftops; I see a skylight I might be able to look inside from.”

“Good call.” Jesse agree, immediately turning professional as well, “I’mma scan the ground level, see if I can’t find a secondary entrance or anything like that. Ya with me, Zenny?”

“Indeed, two sets of eyes will be beneficial, and I’ll assist you should anything go wrong.”

Reinhardt simply moved to stand, shield-up, within charging distance of the main entrance, with Hana and her MEKA at the ready should anything unexpectedly bust out.

“I don’t like this one bit.” Tracer muses, relaying to Winston how the site seems just… empty.

The gunslinger nods, before remembering he has to speak through their comms, as he and Zenyatta find a fire exit to use for the exact opposite purpose. “Well, wouldn’t be the first time we get shitty intel… all I see in here is a hunk of scrap metal an’ garbage…”

“Somehow, I doubt it’ll be this simple.” Hanzo mutters, scaling the rooftop of the central building, “I’m almost at the skylight, I’ll be able to see inside— McCree!”

“What?”

The archer’s eyes are wide as he pulls an arrow and takes aim at the glass. “Leave!”

Jesse tries to look up at the skylight, but does back up –almost crashing into Zenyatta. “What? Talk to me, Han, what’s up?”

“I said—” he practically growls, shattering the skylight with his shot and dropping down, voice going from the distant comm buzz to the very near, very pissed archer in the room, “Leave!!! That’s a bomb and it’s about to explode!”

In his haste to get to his teammates, Hanzo lands a bit too harshly on his right leg –putting aside the fact that, considering it was an industrial warehouse, the ceilings were five meters high, so even landing correctly wouldn’t have been too good on him– and he feels something in it crack painfully. The archer stumbles and careens forward, McCree meeting him half-way with extended arms.

“Hanzo!” he exclaims “What the hell were you thinking?!”

But the other doesn’t really give him time for the lecture, accepting the supporting arms in a rare drop of pride, since there clearly isn’t the time for it, and ushers him towards Zenyatta and the exit as fast as he can, while still favouring his busted leg. “Go! Go, go, go!”

They’re not at the exit yet when a shrill beep goes off, and for a second Hanzo thinks they’re going to die there, but instead the omnic floats behind them, light shining from his orbs and an inexplicably warm glow coming off him like an aura. Zenyatta is still ushering them both out as the entire warehouse gets engulfed in a deafening boom and flames and shrapnel erupt outwards, and yet… there they are.

Safe and sound outside the wreck that was once an abandoned warehouse.

Well, mostly safe and sound. They’re a bit singed here and there and Hanzo still messed up his landing falling from a rooftop, but still.

After literally walking out of an explosion, it could have been way worse off.

“What the hell was that?!” Tracer yells from her position, “Get in the bloody transport!”

“Won’t need to ask us twice, darlin’!” McCree still can’t quite understand how Zenyatta briefly made them _immune_ to the shockwave of an explosion, or even how when the omnic surrounded them with his light he just felt… calm. Nice. Like everything was perfectly fine –it’s a surreal feeling, but he’s not going to think about it when they’ve clearly been set up and he has to get a grumpy archer with a busted leg out of dodge.

He shifts their positions so one of Hanzo’s arms is slung around his shoulders and he can grab the other by the waist, helping him along until they catch up with Reinhardt and Hana. The blast’s radius was big enough that shockwave and rubble were thrown in their direction, but the knight’s shield held true and they seem no worse for the wear.

As soon as they’re in the transport, Hanzo signals to Zenyatta to contact Winston. Jesse wonders why the archer doesn’t just make the report himself, but then his brain catches up: Hanzo is in pain, and has to catch his breath for a second before he can speak without letting it show.

“Winston, come in.”

“What happened?!”

“It would appear it was some sort of trap.” The omnic explains, “The entire place was empty, with the exception of a bomb big enough to destroy the entire warehouse upon our arrival.”

“It was…” Hanzo stops and clears his voice when he feels it crack slightly, trying to school his tone into something more neutral, and from the corner of his eyes he sees Zenyatta directing his orb of harmony at him. “It was a perfect set up. From the skylight I saw wiring coming from all the entrances, the bomb was rigged to a 20 second timer that started upon entrance.”

The scientist hums from the other side of the line. “Just enough time for an entire team of six to come in…” he shakes his head, deciding to save it for the debriefing, “Any injuries?”

“Just one.” The omnic relays, seeing Hanzo’s reluctance to talk, “I am currently doing what I can to lessen the pain and regenerate bodily damage, but I’d wager Hanzo’s prosthetic leg requires a more technical eye after dropping down from a ceiling.”

The archer sends Zenyatta a mildly shocked look. The others probably didn’t notice, but having spent some time with him and Genji, Hanzo knows: the Shambali monk is sassing him for jumping down like a moron.

“Is it severe?”

Winston’s question draws him out of his stupor. “Not at all, just a bad landing that busted up the joints, but it will require repairs.”

“I’ll have Torbjörn ready. ETA?”

“2 hours and 45 minutes, luv!” Lena informs, “Hey, at least you can tell Estrella that Jessito and Hanzo are coming back early!”

 

And is it good news indeed. Genji has to run after her to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself on the way to the hangar, but he is slightly surprised to see the engineer waiting there as well. He understands when the transport’s door opens and Hanzo is being half-carried by a certain cowboy.

[What the fuck?] Estrella is the first one to shout, but even not knowing Spanish the cyborg agrees entirely:

“What the fuck, Aniki?!”

“Language, both of you!” Hanzo protests, as McCree lets him go when Torbjörn hands the archer a crutch for support and nods at him to follow, “Look, nothing too bad happened, I just need someone to fix my leg. I had to act fast.”

“But—”

“It is okay, my student.” Zenyatta floats by, placating Genji with a gestured hand towards his chest, “Your brother acted on impulse to protect McCree and myself, unaware as he was of the power of my Transcendence.”

Genji closes his eyes behind the visor. _Of fucking course._ He’s going to have to sit the cowboy down and talk seriously about this.

Estrella is protesting animatedly in Spanish now, with both Jesse and Zenyatta attempting to calm her down.

[But he said he has super-legs!]

[He does.] the omnic assures, gently patting her on the head, [Which is why it is only a little bit broken and he will be just fine in a couple of hours.]

[It’s okay, babygirl; Torbjörn is a super-mechanic and will fix him up real fast. I promise.] Jesse also guarantees, scooping the girl in his arms, [Wanna go look for birds in the trees?]

The child is still upset but lets herself be pulled away.

 

Getting fixed up by one of the few people who hated his guts until very recently is an awkward affair for Hanzo.

“You okay to continue like this, lad?” the engineer asks, after opening up the outer layers of the prosthetic and exposing all the busted up parts, “I can comm Lúcio or Mercy over to hit you up with some painkillers.”

“They’re busy working on the device and monitoring Estrella’s health.” Is his answer, as he sits on the chair that was provided for him, damaged leg propped up on the work surface, looking at a random spot on the wall in front of him, “I can take a little pain.”

Torbjörn grunts an affirmative and gets to work, but what he says next surprises the archer: “You know… just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”

Something must have shown on his face, because Torbjörn chuckles behind his moustache. Hanzo doesn’t know whether to press on or let it go. “I’ll be fine.” He settles for in the end, “Let’s just get it over and done with. I trust your workmanship.”

And okay, maybe it is painful, but over the years the archer has learnt to largely ignore minor pains –back when he hated himself every day of his life, he deliberately disregarded his own pain, believing it was well-deserved and still nothing compared to fratricide… now it just became a habit. Still, Torbjörn is nothing if not highly skilled, and the repairs are going well.

“These are very advanced.” He says, sounding genuinely impressed, “They’re built into your legs for good, huh?”

Hanzo nods. “Removable prosthetics would have been detrimental to my fighting style in the long run.” He explains, shrugging a little, “Synthetic mesh and organic structuring made more sense, it’s designed to withstand all the climbing and jumping, and to enhance mobility in that field. The bearings and fibres around the joints usually provide shock absorption, but I landed on my shin.”

“Happens to the best of us.” Torbjörn comments with a nod, and the archer could have sworn he’s hiding a smile behind that beard of his.

Technical talk exhausted, a somewhat uncomfortable silence settles in, and stays for a good long while, punctuated only by the mechanical tinkering of tools on metal. It takes the moment the engineer turns away from him to reach for a tool he didn’t think he’d have to use for Hanzo to try and actually talk to the man. “Torbjörn?”

“Aye?”

“What do you think of me?” he would have hated sounding so insecure, in the past, but these people have really become a family of sorts for him, in the past few months, and, well… he kind of values their opinion now.

The engineer snorts. “If ye asked me some time ago, I’d have said that you’re nothing but a backstabbing, murdering son of a bitch.”

Harsh, but to be expected. Hanzo tries not to reel back too bad at the mentions of his past attitude. “And now?”

“Now…” the engineer sighs, wiping his brow –the repair process was tricky, he wasn’t kidding when he commented on the impressive level of the prosthetics, but he’s almost done– “Well. You’re someone who did something horrible. It takes a real bad judgment call to raise arms on family.” It takes a lot of self-control and a lot of remembering that he and Genji were on the rooftops _hugging_ just a few days prior, to not wince at that statement, “But you’re also the person who’s trying to do right, and ye never shied away from blame, never tried to delude yerself it wasn’t your fault. You’re flawed, just like the rest of us. But you paid for your mistakes. You’re trying to do better by the brother you wronged. And someone like that is someone I can respect, whether I particularly like ye or not.”

It’s not exactly sunshine and daisies, but it’s far more than Hanzo would have expected, from the slightly callous man. He tilts his head slightly forwards, in the best approximation of a bow he can do from a sitting position. “Thank you.” He says, and that’s the end of it.

Torbjörn nods at him and finishes his work in silence –of course seeing and getting to know the real Hanzo changed his opinion, he’d have to be a massive hypocrite not to, going all the way back to his distrust of Genji, or more recently to his distrust of Zenyatta’s arrival. He still doesn’t particularly like it, but even he can convey that generalization leads to mistakes and exceptions do exist.

When it’s over, Hanzo’s leg is fully functional, but he does feel a dull, throbbing ache that prompts a thought: it’s a good evening for some sake. He’s going to have to look for Genji and see if his cyborg body can still get blackout drunk.

 

Speaking of cyborgs, said brother is worriedly pacing up and down while listening to the debriefing.

“Okay, so this entire thing now boils down to two questions.” Winston concludes after hearing the facts, “ _Who_ set us up, and _how_ did they manage to do it?”

“It might’ve been Vishkar.” McCree theorizes, “They called us, they sent us the place… it’d be awful easy to stage the entire thing.”

The scientist ponders, but then shakes his head no. “That might have been the case, but it wouldn’t explain why the Vishkar contact is furious about the mission’s failure. It would seem that whatever there was supposed to be in the warehouse, an important piece of tech was indeed lost to Talon’s hands.”

And Vishkar wouldn’t sacrifice their own tech just to try and kill a few Overwatch agents.

“So… Talon?” Lena asks, “But _how_? I thought Athena was fixed.”

“She is.” Winston says, a bit more forcefully than he cared to admit, “Maybe Talon managed to compromise Vishkar. They had their tech, maybe they found out about Vishkar passing the mission onto us and decided to change their plans.”

It’s a good thing Lúcio came up to get Estrella and escort her to the med-bay for some more tests before the debriefing, Genji is in no shape of mind to look after a child anymore. “Ugh. This is getting more and more messy.” He grumbles, running a hand behind his neck and standing up, “I’m going to see my brother.”

There’s not much else to discuss except details, so they let him go blow off some steam –literally, Hana thinks as she watches the tiny puffs coming from the cyborg’s sides– and eventually everyone gets dismissed.

 

«Brother!»

Hanzo is in his room, sitting on his bed with his legs extended in front of him, looking at something that rests on his lap. «Not so loud, sparrow, please? I’m kind of in pain right now.»

«Yeah well you were stupid enough to—» Genji interrupts himself with a huff as he goes to sit by the edge of the bed, «What has the world turned to, if _I_ am the one to lecture you about recklessness?»

That draws a tired smile from the archer. «I can guarantee you, brother, I’ve done plenty of stupid and reckless things in this last decade.»

«Still…» the cyborg takes off his visor, and shares a long, silent look with his brother. It’s one thing to jump in the fray of battle with a plan or an attack, however fast-thought it might be, and defend against enemies that otherwise would have killed your teammate; it’s another thing entirely to just _drop_ yourself in front of certain harm to ward off another. Genji connects the dots pretty fast. «You actually care about him a lot.»

Hanzo drops his gaze. «Yes, well. He doesn’t need to know that yet. So I’d appreciate it if you could keep your mouth shut.»

«Oh, you said ‘yet’! Is that progress I hear?» the other jokes, nudging the archer’s side to properly sit next to him on the bed, «Will you eventually do something more than just flirt shamelessly over comms?»

«I do _not_ —» he doesn’t even believe it himself, and sighs. «Maybe. Eventually.»

«Are you worried that he won’t reciprocate? because, really brother, you should give yourself more—»

«Not quite.» Hanzo is still not quite meeting his eyes, as he speaks, «I’m more concerned that his interests would be purely… physical. But that’s not even the problem. The problem is that… » he pauses and runs a hand on his face, as if looking for the right words, «What I’m worried about is that, if even that is the case, I’ll be okay with taking what I can get.»

Genji’s eyes haven’t been so wide in a good while, and the archer can pride himself for still being able to surprise him, at least. «That’s just— he wouldn’t— you wouldn’t have to— No!» after several not quite there attempts, he settles for just yelling his refusal to accept such a thought. «Good God, brother, we really need to work on your self-esteem!»

They share a good laugh over it, and settle down into silence. Curiosity winning over, Genji peers at the object his brother was holding on his lap. «What’s that?»

Hanzo passes it over wordlessly. It’s a tablet, apparently containing multimedia images and videos.

The cyborg’s eyes widen once more, as he sees himself. A long gone version of himself. Less than half the age he is now. He almost can’t believe it, as he sees the one selfie they ever got to have together, a clearly drunk Genji and a somewhat dishevelled, disgruntled Hanzo, lying in a mess of pillows and sheets.

«How did you even find this memory card?» the cyborg asks, not quite trusting his eyes yet.

«I stole it from your room, the first year I went back to honour you after… after. I kept it with me ever since.» Hanzo explains, not without some embarrassment. «Go on, swipe right.»

 Genji swipes right. It’s a video.

When it plays, he can almost recite it by memory.

_Someone is holding the phone, not quite steadily, as they enter what looks like Hanzo’s old room in Hanamura. «He’s still asleep…» his own voice whispers at the camera, slowly creeping up towards the only futon in the room._

_Nineteen year-old Hanzo is sleeping facedown, waist-long hair spilling over his back and sides, exposed dragon tattoo as the only recognizable feature. «Go away Genji…» he groans sleepily, not even lifting his head._

_«Aw, brother, how did you know?! You’re so stealthy!»_

_«And you’re drunk.» it’s a flat statement, like he’s not even disappointed. Eventually, past-Hanzo lifts his head, if only to shake it at the camera. «God, that hair is ridiculous.»_

_The camera shakes and nearly topples over with past-Genji’s laughter. Past-Hanzo shakes his head and beckons his brother forward. «Come here. I’m sure you’ve done enough damage for one day. Give me that.»_

_The screen is very confused for a little, until there’s the tell-tale jump that signals the switching to inner cam, and both Genji and Hanzo are lying on their backs, side by side on the futon. «Why are you even filming this?» past-Hanzo asks, voice exasperated but fond._

_«I wanted to document the moment I finally sneaked up on you!»_

_«You’ll never sneak up on me, sparrow. Now sleep.» past-Genji whines drunkenly and bats a bit at his brother, claiming it’s so unfair, but past-Hanzo just reaches a hand under his brother’s jaw and starts stroking._

_«Brother, wait, let’s take a selfie!»_

_«For the love of— fine. Here.» there’s a split second of still-frame, capturing the selfie in question, and then past-Hanzo continues: «You’re going to have time to regret this in the morning. Sleep, now. If you’re good, I’ll teach you how to be stealthier.»_

_Past-Genji gets increasingly groggier by the second. «Promise?»_

_«Promise, Genji.»_

_«Just you and me?»_

_«Just you and me.» that’s where the cyborg’s memory stops, but the video goes on. Past-Hanzo is staring at the phone, looking pensive about something until his hand moves from his brother’s jaw up to his forehead, giving him a caress on the head and then a kiss on the forehead. «Whatever am I going to do with you, little brother?» it’s made out to be sarcastic and tired, but it just comes out affectionate, and the video cuts to past-Hanzo settling down beside Genji and put the phone on the floor beside the futon._

When the screen goes black, Genji has to blink to realize that the reason he couldn’t see properly was that he had tears in his eyes. He didn’t even know he could still cry.

That was the last moment either of them can remember being so close. Then Hanzo turned twenty and suddenly his life wasn’t his anymore. They drifted apart, farther and farther until whatever was holding them together broke. «…What went wrong?» he asks his older brother, not surprised when Hanzo’s hand comes up to his face to wipe away his tears.

«Everything, I’d say.» the archer muses, turning the wiping motion into a caress and resting his hand on his brother’s jaw, just like in the video. «Everything went wrong and our life was ripped from us. But you’re the one who told me we can pick it back up. We can be brothers again.»

Genji doesn’t quite trust himself to speak, and just nods wordlessly. For all his tall talk about forgiveness and inner peace, there was a big part of his life where he was bitter and focused on revenge. Then, even as he moved over and above those feelings, a part of him was left wondering about what Hanzo could have been feeling, at the time. Whether he actually ever loved his little brother, despite everything.

The tangible proof that Hanzo never stopped caring about him is like the last missing piece of his heart sliding back into place, and the cyborg heaves a slightly broken sigh. He doesn’t cry, if only because Hanzo chooses to ruin the moment:

«You’re purring again.»

«For fuck’s sake, it’s just a _cooling noise_!»

The archer has to bite back a smile. «Sure, whatever you say.»

«Hey, Hanzo.» he calls, as his brother hums inquisitively at him, «Let’s take another selfie.»

The new selfie sees the brothers sitting side by side, with slightly red eyes but a big smile on Genji’s face, and Hanzo trying but failing to keep a composed and stern look, as his lips tilt upwards however much he tries to hide it.

«So, my leg hurts and I need to numb it down. Want to go get the others and get drunk?»

 

Instead of actually just getting smashed on hard liquors, they agree to simply gather the team around for dinner and get a bit more… liberal with the drinks. But not too much, since Estrella is also there. Even Zenyatta joins them, despite not needing to eat or drink, simply to be together with everyone else.

“I’m not joking!” Reinhardt recounts, tales of brashness and youth from his old days as a soldier, before Overwatch was even a thing, “I never found out how our sergeant managed to bring an entire keg to the base, but that very night we had a drinking contest and everybody got completely hammered! Our c.o. found us singing Norse drinking songs leaning out of the base windows, and the following morning he made us do combat drills while hungover!”

They all share a good laugh. “Wow.” Hana comments, a bit mad that they won’t let her drink but happy to be laughing at the drunk idiots, “It’s so hard to picture Mr. Justice getting drunk and into trouble…”

“True, that’s somethin’ more of Genji’s territory, ain’t that right, pardner?” McCree jabs, elbowing his cyborg friend slightly while Estrella sits in his lap and eats her ice cream as she laughs at all the silly grownups. Zenyatta gently pipes in: “Well, his brother did call him the Green Devil at some point.”

The cyborg pretends to be betrayed, as he slaps both hands to his chest. “Master, why would you betray me so?”

“Aw, don’t worry, luv…” Lena coos, before taking a matter-of-fact tone, “Everyone who ever knew you for at least five minutes knows that you’re actually the devil.”

“How am _I_ the bad one out of the two brothers when I’m the one who got filleted?”

“One would think the two things are related.” There’s a moment of shocked silence around the table. Try as they might, they will all always be shocked and horrified by the Shimada brothers’ dark humour.

It’s not until Genji starts laughing loudly that they resume breathing, and the cyborg pats his brother animatedly on the back. “Oh man, good one, brother!” he says, draping his entire arm around Hanzo.

“I forgot how clingy you get when you’re drunk.” Hanzo half mutters, trying and failing to disentangle himself from his brother.

From Genji’s other side, Jesse laughs and nods, having been in the same predicament often enough himself. “Ya two got drunk a lot together?”

“Not quite.” The archer answers, eventually giving up, “We sometimes pretended to, to extract information from… otherwise reluctant targets.”

Lúcio also laughs and nods, before realizing he doesn’t actually get it. “Wait, what do you mean?”

“What he means is, the Shimada brothers tag-teamed the toughest of them back in Hanamura.” Genji not-so-subtly declares, arms happily wrapped around his brother and his head even resting on Hanzo’s tattooed shoulder. “And boy did we make them sing.”

“You’re making it sound dirtier than it actually was, Genji.”

It takes a moment for the penny to drop, but the table goes still again when it does.

Of course. Who wouldn’t want to stay and get chattier when presented with the opportunity to sit between two beautiful, drunk, young brothers?

The first one to recover is, predictably, Hana. “No offense cyborg bro, but ew.”

Mercy is just covering her mouth and trying hard not to laugh, as are various other people in the room. Lúcio is flabbergasted. “That’s… that’s kind of messed up.”

Hanzo nods, covering his face with both hands. “I assure you, this idiot sparrow, here—” one more feeble attempt at getting his brother off him is made, “Is making it sound way worse than it actually was. We’d just play pretend, long enough to get close to our target, get some drinks in them, and let them talk a lot… it’s amazing how much people will tell you if you let them believe certain things will happen.” He tries to find ways around saying the actual words, mindful of Estrella’s presence, even though she’s half-asleep on McCree’s lap at this point. “Then we’d just knock them out or sneak narcotics into the next drink. Just another day in the yakuza.”

Telling it out loud, it is pretty messed up nonetheless. Nothing in their life was their own, not even their bodies. It’s a conclusion all of them can reach, and Mei shakes her head. “Damn. Now I’m sad.”

Jesse follows suit, for different reasons entirely. “I’d be as well, but I’m still kinda grossed out.”

“Aww, come on, cowboy~” Genji calls in a sing-song tone, using his hold on Hanzo to turn their hugging forms towards him, “You’re telling me you wouldn’t jump in the middle of this?” he then asks, letting go of one arm to properly rest the side of his face against his brother’s shoulder and make eyes at McCree, and that’s when three things simultaneously happen:

Jesse stammers violently, embarrassed at the way his own eyes betrayed him and decided to travel up and down Hanzo’s body to finally come to rest on the flush on that slightly tipsy face, as he finally rasps out: “Genji. No. Just no.”

Hanzo also is a mess of indignant sputtering, pushing and shoving at his brother: “Okay, you’ve had enough to drink!”

Zenyatta, who was serenely floating along and occasionally laughing with them, turns his face away from the scene, and a strange choked sound escapes his voicebox.

“M-master?”

“See, Genji? You’re making the literal _saint_ uncomfortable with your dirty jokes.” The archer grumbles, finally managing to disentangle them once Genji’s grasp goes slack and he bolts upright. “You’ve _definitely_ had enough to drink.”

That’s when what Hanzo will privately refer to as the funniest thing ever happens: half asleep and not really understanding what’s going on, Estrella groggily climbs down from McCree’s lap and approaches the omnic.

“Are you sad, robot-man?” she asks, innocently closing her hand around Zenyatta’s right pinky, “Is it because you want a hug, too? Here.” She starts walking, still holding his hand, and the monk couldn’t have done anything else except indulge her, floating along and letting himself be guided… straight into Genji’s arms.

The cyborg is perplexed and embarrassed, but Estrella is having none of it. “Hug him! And do the cyborg magic thing! He’ll feel better for sure!” for someone with a crush on Genji, she sure seems adamant about letting Zenyatta enjoy a good hug.

Now. The entire team knows about the little episode when Genji kissed Estrella’s forehead and told her it was magic to make her stop crying. The entire team is also in various states of tipsy where it makes sense to laugh at the stupidest things and also find perfectly normal things that would be weird otherwise. Still, some are confused, and Jesse shoots Hanzo an accusatory look, noticing the archer’s “I know something that you don’t” look.

But there’s some things in life that you just don’t refuse, and a groggy six-year old demanding that you be nice and hug your friends and bestow your ‘magic’ on them is one of those; so Genji eventually gives up, closes his arms around his still floating mentor, and with a whisper of “Sorry for the disrespect, master.” tilts his face up to kiss Zenyatta on what amounts to his forehead.

Steam comes out of his vents, and he’s not entirely sure it’s intentional. There’s a chorus of “Awww”s and laughter that has Genji turning scarlet, and he hastily puts his visor back on. They’re never going to let him live this one down. Zenyatta says nothing, but that in and on itself is not a clue in any direction. Hopefully he's not too weirded out by this.

His brother's laughter turns sympathetic, eventually, and he pats him on the back. “See? That’s what happens when you act like an ass.” Hanzo says, way more affectionate that the words let on.

McCree nods solemnly and stands to pick up Estrella once more. “Gents, ladies… it’s kinda late. I reckon we can wrap up our lil’ dinner party here and catch some z’s, eh?”

The all agree that they’ve had enough fun for the evening, and Lúcio offers to stay behind to clean up the dishes since he hasn’t done it in a while –to which Hana offers to help, which strikes Jesse as odd but hey, for once the girl is willingly doing chores, he’s not going to complain, and most of them go their separate ways.

Which is how the gunslinger finds himself stopping by Hanzo’s room once more, on the way to his own, Estrella fast asleep in his arms. He doesn’t quite know why, but it seems a good time to talk.

“You took a useless risk out there.”

The archer instantly knows what he’s talking about. “Mad I took your place at being reckless, cowboy?”

“I’m serious, Hanzo.” Jesse takes a step forward, leaning into the other’s space, “Zenyatta was with me, you should have saved yourself.”

“My life is not more valuable than yours.”

“Well it sure as hell ain’t _less_ valuable either!”

Hanzo’s eyes darken slightly, despite the smile. “Are you so sure about that?”

“Goddamn it, Hanzo…” McCree almost screams at him. He wants to, so badly. He wants to yell at the archer to stop looking only at the blood in his hands and move on, that of course he’s valuable, he isn’t perfect by any stretch of the word and maybe he’s not the best man to walk the Earth, but he is a good one, and deserves to live, and be protected, and be _loved_ —

[Jessito? Are you upset?]

He doesn’t know whether to be happy that Estrella’s sleepy voice stopped him or not. [Not at all, cutiepie, we’re gonna say goodnight and put you to sleep, okay?]

[Okay.]

The two don’t say a word to each other throughout the process of putting the child to bed, but Hanzo does stop McCree with a hand on his shoulder at the doorway, before he goes.

“Wait. Jesse.” He takes a deep breath, closing and reopening his eyes to fix them in the other’s. “I don’t care what you say, I will _never_ let you walk into danger alone. Not if I can help it.”

It’s late enough in the night that the cowboy doesn’t react at hearing his given name falling from the archer’s lips for the first time. He just smiles and slaps his hand over the one on his shoulder. “Well, right back atcha, sweetheart. So don’t go thinkin’ I’ll let ya pull the same stunt again.”

Hanzo lowers his gaze as McCree finally takes his leave with a tip of the hat. He meant to say more, but that promise is as close as a confession of his actual feelings as Jesse is going to get out of him for the time being, whether he understands it or not.

Genji is probably going to be proud of him regardless, tomorrow morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Full disclosure, to be clear: I'm not really into the two brothers thing, it's not my cup of tea, but the yakuza days thing makes sense, historically speaking: if someone is unscrupolous, already a criminal, and drunk, with two beautiful boys as 'easy pickings', they're probably not gonna care whether they're related or not, and will just want to put their paws on them both. Also it's not like they usually revealed their identities so easily.  
> The world is full of perverts either way, and the yakuza are exactly the kind of people to take full advantage of it.  
> Genji thinks people should learn to take a joke, and also wanted to subtly prove to Hanzo that Jesse is definitely very much interested. He just got way more than he bargained for.
> 
> That said, this chapter literally ran away from me.  
> There was supposed to be another bit where they finally talked to Estrella about her parents, but I'll just lump it in the next one. It's gonna make more sense, anyway.  
> Hopefully wthin Tuesday.  
> Not sure tho.  
> bye >w<


	11. Slowly but surely, the clock ticks on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No plan ever survives first contact.  
> It's a fact that both old and young soldiers know and accept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like, OH SHIT.  
> OH SHIT.
> 
> Idek, it started out so nice and fluffy and then... then...  
> just take this.  
> I'm not evil, I promise.  
> as usual: «this» is Japanese and [this] is Spanish.  
> Also, mission locations and things happening are totally bullshit and outside of the canon story, because I can't be bothered with lining up all the tiny little events properly. I think it's much better to go and do my own thing, rather than try to slip in a reference to things that actually happened and ending up half-assing it because I don't know the events by memory.

Despite being blessed by a cyborg body that left him with no hangover whatsoever, no matter how much he drank, Genji wakes up with a small degree of regret.

It seemed like a good idea at the time, make a little fun of his brother, knowing he’d get shy and that it’d make McCree actually stop and _look_ –because really, the great Hanzo Shimada, shy? …but of course it backfired on him and he made a total ass out of himself in front of his master.

He decides to get up and get things over with, reassembling the detachable parts of his exoskeleton and grabbing his visor. Zenyatta is already at their usual meditation spot, peacefully floating around and waiting for him.

“Ah, my student. I do not think your brother will join us this morning.” The omnic says as a way of greeting, “He looked very tired yesterday.”

Genji clears his throat. “I, uh… I want to apologize for yesterday, master.” If he is to peacefully meditate by Zenyatta’s side, he really needs to get this out of the way. “It was supposed to be harmless fun, but I went and acted like a complete fool.”

“Well…” Zenyatta seems to be looking for the right words to say, and the pause does leave the cyborg slightly apprehensive. “No one was harmed, as far as I recall, so harmless fun is still the right definition for your actions.”

“Master?” there’s no way he heard right. He blinks behind his visor.

“If you are concerned about the child urging you to hug me, your fretting is flattering, but unnecessary.” The monk assures with a small wave of the hand. “Physical boundaries are a human concept; it matters not to me whether we are meters or inches apart, as long as we know where we stand within each other’s souls.”

Genji feels a deep breath heave in and out of his chest. Of course his teacher would look at the spiritual side of things. What was he even thinking?

“That’s a relief, mas—”

“That being said, it wold be unfair not to return you your magic to you.”

 _Wait what?_ He doesn’t have much time to think before Zenyatta clanks his face to the side of his head, in the omnic approximation of a kiss on the cheek. The really surprising thing is the pulse, though.

It’s not quite like an EMP blast, but it is electromagnetic and it does pulse, albeit low and in no way harmful –it sends a kind of tingle that reverbs over human and mechanical alike. He can actually feel it on his cheek underneath the visor. _Holy crap._

The omnic doesn’t have facial expressions, but the small, robotic chuckle tells Genji that his master is being oblivious on purpose. But that would mean that Zenyatta did this for entirely self-indulgent reasons, or to simply watch him squirm. If that is the case…

“…oh.” It draws another chuckle from Zenyatta.

“Indeed, my student.” He softly shakes his head. “How long?” he doesn’t need to elaborate.

Genji really doesn’t know the answer. Since Estrella pointed it out to him? Since Hanzo started teasing him about it? Since the very beginning? He genuinely can’t tell. “A while.” He settles for, eventually.

“You should have told me.” His teacher says, rising a hand to rest it at the side of Genji’s head –and oh, he is so going to get back at Hanzo for exposing his weak spot and… wait, what were they talking about? “I do not ever want you to think that there is something you cannot tell me, my dear student.”

“Mm-mhm.” The cyborg just nods, a low hum growing in his chest as his eyes close. He can feel his vents kicking in.

…okay, maybe it is a little bit like purring.

“Come, now, this morning’s air is particularly fresh and the leaves are alive with the breeze.” Zenyatta’s fingers drop from Genji’s face and go to take him by the hand, “It’s the perfect morning for meditation.”

Well, damn. Genji definitely has a lot to contemplate, so meditation it is.

 

On the other side of the base, Hanzo wakes up to what is rapidly becoming a familiar little bundle of warmth. Today is a special day, though: winning over any personal reservation he had, it seems he went and actually hugged Estrella in his sleep.

He brushes some of the blond hair away from her forehead, heart almost constricting at how just his hand is as big as the child’s entire face; she’s so tiny, so fragile looking – _Protect the little one._

The low crackle of energy within himself is also getting increasingly familiar. Even if the archer hasn’t yet adopted the girl as his own, _someone_ really seems to believe that’s the case. He smiles to himself, and wakes Estrella up with a kiss on the forehead and a call of her name.

“Hello, there.”

“I’m hungry.”

Hanzo shakes his head –he shouldn’t find the girl’s rudeness so cute, but he can’t quite help it. “Well, if someone greets me with a proper good morning I might be convinced to go find Jesse and ask him to make pancakes.”

She huffs slightly, but know better than to test archer dad. “…Good morning, Hanzo.”

“Good girl.” He praises, rising from the bed and hoisting the child up with him. “Go wash up. I’ll do your braid and then we’re going to have breakfast together.”

Mercy and Mei will understand –he is meant to bring Estrella to them as soon as possible, but this has gone on long enough. He feels slightly bad for springing the talk onto Jesse as well, but he doesn’t feel confident enough to do it alone.

Which is how the three of them is eventually found in the kitchen, eating pancakes and having tea. Well, Hanzo is having tea, the cowboy is drinking a coffee black enough to see hell inside it, and Estrella is not really paying attention to her cup of milk, just happily munching on the pancakes.

“Estrella…” Hanzo finally starts, fingers curling apprehensively around his own cup, “Do you like it here?”

The flash of concern into the gunslinger’s eyes tells him McCree is picking up fast as to where he wants to go with this.

“It’s… cool.” The child says, obviously not wanting to be nice because tough girls aren’t nice, what are you silly grownups thinking, “Can I… can I come to see you? Even when you find my mom and dad?”

Jesse clears his voice. “Yeah, uh. About that…”

“What do you remember of them, child?”

She seems suddenly uncomfortable at Hanzo’s question. “…not much.” She admits. “Papi used to scream. Mama cried a lot.”

Predictable, if still sad –if they were desperate enough to sell their own daughter to terrorists, then of course the family dynamics were less than ideal. “Would you still wish they were here?”

Estrella lowers her gaze –almost as if she’s anticipating punishment for her next answer. It takes a long couple of seconds before she speaks. “I don’t know.”

Never before has Hanzo ever felt such kindred with this small creature. She resents her own family, and feels guilty about such resentment. It’s oversimplified and doesn’t really amount to a yakuza clan pushing you to fratricide, but at the skeleton of the matter is a similar concept: your family doing bad things, and you feeling bad for not being able to love them regardless of what they do. “You’re not in trouble, Estrella.” He assures, taking a deep breath to continue. “And… I know I promised you we would find your family, but…”

The girl’s big brown eyes look up at him, and his breath catches. This is hard.

From his side, McCree takes off his hat. “We looked very hard, babygirl, but when we got there…”

Estrella blinks once, twice. Something feels like tears. [Are my mom and dad…gone?]

Of course she’d catch up. She’s such a smart child. And regardless of resentment or bad family dynamics, it’s a hard blow. [I’m so sorry, babygirl.]

Both men are instantly out of the chair and at her sides, when she lets go of her fork to cover both of her eyes, in an attempt not to show that she’s crying. Jesse is kneeling by her side, hands going to rest over Estrella’s, while Hanzo is standing behind her, one hand patting her head in what tries to be a reassuring gesture. They stay like that for a while.

[I just wanna go home!] she finally hiccups out, letting the two hear her sobs.

[I know, babygirl, I know…] McCree coos, slowly guiding her hands out of her face enough to wipe her tears away, [But hey… until we can figure things out, this can be your new home, what do you say? For a little while?]

The only time Hanzo ever saw anyone look so lost was a long time ago, when he caught his reflection on the mirror while trying to scrub his brother’s blood off his body. Hazy memories or not, this poor child had her world ripped out from under her, twice over, and the bearers of bad news are the only two people she was actually starting to trust. His Spanish is not quite that good yet, but his intuition is good enough that he can figure out what the cowboy has been saying.

When she sniffles, it’s so pitiful that the archer just wants to hug her until it all goes away –he can see a similar emotion in McCree’s eyes, as their gazes meet over her head.

[Okay…]

Jesse actually picks her up to hug her, switching back to English. “I’m so sorry, babygirl.” He repeats, kissing her cheek, “You’re being very brave. We’ll take good care of you, for all the time it takes.”

“Promise?”

It’s just as weak and insecure as the first day they met her. Hanzo vows silently to himself that he will never hear this child sound like that ever again. “Promise, Estrella.”

She still cries, but it’s to be expected. Mercy and Mei agree to forego the examination for today, since they’ve hit a wall anyway.

“Overheating the device to the point of malfunctioning wouldn’t work.” The researcher explains, as they watch her from afar, playing around with Hana and Lúcio who offered to cheer her up with games, upon seeing her sad. “Or rather, it would, but the procedure would cause extensive damage to the child, both external and internal.”

“Yeah, no. _Melting_ the kid ain’t an option.” Jesse comments, pensive, “Athena’s secured now anyway, yeah?”

For all intents and purposes, Lúcio made it so, and the AI herself deleted the last remnants of corruption.

“She’s gotten healthier and stronger.” Angela supplies, looking over her medical files, “No signs of malnutrition anymore, decent sleeping pattern, no heavy stresses –well, except for just today, but it was right to let her know…”

Mei directs a coy smile at the two snipers. “One would say you’re great dads.”

Hanzo doesn’t even reply, pinching the bridge of his nose with a sigh, and McCree laughs it off. “Not you too, Mei, come on! You’re supposed to be shy and serious!”

The girls have a good laugh at their expense before Mercy continues: “Speaking of seriousness… we might want to consider surgical removal, now that Estrella is in good health.” The words are like a cold shower to Hanzo. On one hand, removal of the device would mean freedom for the child, on the other… if the main problem was eradicated, so would be the reason for keeping her in Gibraltar as opposed to finding a home that would take her. Angela keeps going: “It would still be a risk, but… with the help of a biotic emitter, and taking care of making a very small incision…”

Someone put it there; someone can remove it, after all. Of course, that doesn’t mean that it’s seamless and safe. The archer’s fists unconsciously clench. “No one is cutting into the child’s head.”

“Hanzo—”

“And that’s _final_.”

The doctor shares a pained look with Mei. They don’t like this any more than he does, but they’re finding themselves rapidly getting out of options. Somewhere along the way, the theory of exposing the child to an EMP charge was brought forward, only to be shot down with how absolutely reckless that would be –even when specifically targeted against electrical components, an EMP charge is still a _charge_ , so that’s absolutely out of the question, even though it probably would permanently deactivate the device.

It’s just not worth the risk. If only there was some way to let a powerful energy course through the device while leaving Estrella unharmed…

“Well.” Angela eventually says, gathering back her files and gesturing for Mei to follow. “At least we can take our time figuring this out, since Lúcio expelled the influence from the system and Athena deleted all tracks.”

The rest of the day is spent in relative normalcy, with Estrella moved to Reinhardt’s loving care while Hanzo and McCree make up for the training drills they missed while consoling the child.

It gets exciting when someone suggests the Shimada brothers spar –even though Hanzo looks very pale in the face at first, at the idea of fighting his brother again.

They manage to crack a joke out of it, as he says “I mean, we all know how it went _last_ time…” and Genji ‘reassuring’ him with a “Don’t worry brother, we’ll just make sure to follow the No Dismemberment rule!”

It makes the onlookers uncomfortable, but it does the job.

Genji is fast, much faster than he was when he was younger and probably faster than Hanzo will ever be, but the archer’s aim is true and he gets a few good hits in, blunted arrows clanking against his brother’s armored body but being dutifully recorded by their AI.

Eventually, the cyborg starts using his superior speed to his advantage, and starts pressing more and more attacks against his brother, utilizing Hanzo’s need for distance against him and stealing the higher ground for himself. The match ends when Genji kicks off from the wall he just scaled and jumps straight into his older brother, grabbing the wrist that was about to pull the arrow with one hand and pointing his practice sword at his throat with the other.

“Well, this seems familiar.”

He sounds entirely too smug for someone who had to have his entire body rebuilt. “ _Fine_.” Hanzo huffs, letting his fingers go slack and accepting defeat, “You’re the stronger fighter in close quarters. Happy?”

Genji’s antennas twitch happily. “Very much so, Aniki.”

“Get off me, you bakeneko.”

Zenyatta laughs quietly from the sidelines, and suddenly freeing himself from the cyborg’s grasp becomes that much easier for Hanzo. “Sparrow?”

“Huh. What?”

One does not grow up with a little brother for twenty-some years until psychotic relatives force fratricide upon them without knowing said brother inside out, and the archer pats his brother’s back. “Nothing. Just… we’re going to have _words_ soon, mister.”

Genji doesn’t quite feel like the winner anymore. Zenyatta takes one good look at the brothers and titters quietly again.

Their relationship is sure rebuilding nicely, possibly stronger than ever before. The omnic looks to his right and conceals a sigh –McCree is chatting and laughing together with the others, but something is clearly causing disquiet in his mind, and the cowboy keeps stealing quick glances at Hanzo. If only other relationships were as easy to fix.

Hana wasn’t kidding when she defined the both of them “thick as bricks”. Any longer and action would be needed, if only to steer the two stubborn souls on the path that could not be clearer to them if it had red neon arrows. Zenyatta sighs again, reminding himself that frustration, no matter how justified, is not a solution. The Iris will provide guidance; and in the end, harmony will find his two friends –either that, or his beloved student will bash their heads together.

And he’d probably let him.

 

A few more days go by, and life at Watchpoint: Gibraltar seems returned to normal –except for Estrella’s presence and angry calls with the Vishkar operative who still insists that the failed mission where they nearly exploded was _their_ fault. Lúcio really doesn’t like her, but Winston is trying to stay diplomatic and it seems to be working at keeping Vishkar’s nose out of their more sensitive business.

They eventually get wind of troubles stirring up in northern Europe about an Omnium giving signs of reactivating itself, and the combat drills get serious again.

Reinhardt gets put in charge of the mission, and Torbjörn’s knowledge of the territory will be their guide, the rest of the team gets comprised by McCree and both Shimada brothers as their combat support, and Mercy as their field medic.

The flight all the way up is over four hours, but their minds are plenty occupied for the trip. Between worrying for Estrella –even though Hana promised to take good care of her and Zenyatta also guaranteed his assistance in a way that was actually comforting – and thinking back to what happened the last time they went out, the flight is mostly silent, save for service messages and info updates.

“Alright, lads, hold onto yer butts! We’re about to land!”

There is some turbulence, but ultimately the landing goes on smoothly enough. The road from the landing strip to the factory is chilly, but the warm season makes the land less unforgiving than it would be in the winter, so the team can thank their lucky star for small victories.

“Alright, these are the locations of the three generators!” Torbjörn explains, pointing at his map of the area, “Each of them needs to be destroyed in order to make sure this thing won’t reactivate anytime soon.”

When they get to the first generator, it’s already in pieces.

Jesse gets a sinking feeling of dejá-vu.

“Let’s split up.” Reinhardt says, noticing the distance between the remaining two generators, “Torbjörn, take Genji and head towards the eastern generator, I’ll take McCree and we’ll scout the other one. Hanzo, you take the high road and follow us along the middle, and Mercy will fly up with you to keep tabs. We’ll all regroup in the middle and assess the worth of actually entering the power plant.”

Not wanting to be caught any longer with their pants down, they agree that while splitting up does put them in a more vulnerable position, not knowing what the hell is going on is exponentially worse, so everyone takes their respective positions and turn on the comms.

“Nothing here, completely demolished.”

While it is relieving to hear nothing is happening, it still poses the disturbing question: what the hell happened here?

Reinhardt’s response to Torbjörn makes Hanzo close his eyes. “No signs of life here either, and the generator is busted.”

This is just like the warehouse in London. “I don’t trust any of this. Let’s regroup and—”

The archer’s voice is cut off by the sound of an explosion rumbling through the place’s entrance, not too far from where the second generator is.

“Genji!!!”

“I’m okay!” the cyborg is quick to reply, but the sounds of battle reach everyone’s ears. “We’re under attack though, coming in hot and heavy, we need back up!”

“On our way!”

Both groups move to join the two under fire, Torbjörn’s turrets were fundamental in keeping them alive as long as they did, but the arrival of their teammates definitely increases the chances of survival, if not victory.

It only takes fleeting looks at their attackers’ gear and modus operandi. Talon.

“What do you think they’re here for?” Angela asks over the comms, busy as she is boosting Reinhardt’s charge to allow the knight to cleave through an entire group of hostiles and join Genji to fight back to back, successfully covering the cyborg’s six and allowing him to pierce through the enemy line some more.

“Less talk, more ripping Talon apart!” Torbjörn protests, ramping up one of his turrets while simultaneously using it as cover.

Hanzo is busy providing cover fire for the ground level fighters, having found an elevated walkway to stalk along, and firing scatter arrows here and there to distract the enemies and allow his comrades to land the finishing blows.

“Still, if they’re here and so hell-bent on taking this place down, there must be _some_ thing they want, right?” Mercy expertly ducks out of the way when she sees Hanzo turn towards her, his arrow whistling past her and into the head of the Talon agent who was trying to sneak up on her. “Thanks, Hanzo!”

“Focus.” He says through the comm, even though it doesn’t come nearly as stern as it should have –she had never thanked him for something so cheerfully, and it admittedly makes him a bit bashful. _Focus_. He repeats to himself, this is no time to reflect on acquired camaraderie. “I agree with Mercy, though, such a dispatch of forces mean that whatever is in here, they really want it.”

“Well, whatever it is, I’m kinda inclined to let ‘em have it, fuck this place!” their enemies are being very careful not to speak, not that they'd hear anything over the gunfire and mayhem, but still. Whatever it is they want, it can't be worth the ambush.

“McCree, you’re letting yourself be flanked—”

“Am I now?”

No matter how many times Hanzo sees it, it’s nothing short of breath-taking when it happens. The stupid catchphrase barely makes it through the comm, but seven people drop dead and the only thing the archer can think is _How? Peacekeeper is a six-shooter._

Either the gunslinger is inhumanly fast at reloading, or there’s more to his tricks than meets the eye. It would explain how tired he seems after every time. He’s vulnerable. Hanzo doesn’t hesitate in getting down from his perch to cover him. “I’m almost out of arrows and dropping down! We need to thin their numbers!”

"On it!" Genji sees an opening as some of their enemies are busying themselves with destroying Torbjörn’s turrets –a smart move, considering those are their best defence… but that leaves them open for one little surprise: _“Ryuujin no ken wo kurae!”_

To his credit, he slices through his attackers as if they were made of butter. Green dragon engulfing him and roaring out as an extension of his sword, Genji is a deadly green light zipping through enemies and leaving death in his wake –he can barely be distinguished from the beast shining around him, until the attack is exhausted and the green light disappears.

The enemy numbers have definitely dwindled, but one asshole decides it’s a good idea to fire explosive charges indoors and his brother thinks it’s a good idea to try and _deflect one with his sword_.

The result is very predictable. Half a wall collapses outwards, people run out and bodies are thrown around, Genji gets his ass knocked out and the only reason his chest isn’t blown out is because his cyborg body is pretty damn resistant, thank you very much doctor Ziegler. Angela actually flies forward to go and drag Genji’s ass out of harm’s way, as well as directing the glow of her Caduceus at him to make sure he doesn’t bleed out, with Reinhardt advancing to provide cover with his barrier –it has taken heavy damage to protect them from the explosion and will collapse any second, but they still have a chance.

Of course there’s also the problem of several hostiles still standing and the asshole firing explosive charges at them, that are denting the knight’s barrier more and more with each passing second.

Hanzo reaches in his quiver to put an end to this –only to realize he has no arrows left. He’s too far from the action to try to go and give melee support, but running out to search for an unbroken arrow is a waste of time he can’t afford. He leaps close to McCree and they have an entire conversation through looks in the span of few instants.

A questioning look. _How much have you got left in you?_

Half a shrug. _Not much._

A nod in the direction of the last of the fight. _Do you trust me?_

A nod in response.

“Take aim.”

Jesse points his gun, not really knowing what good it will do considering he only has two bullets left as of right now and there’s like six people on the other side of the hangar, but Hanzo just pulls himself close, clasping both his hands over the cowboy’s and pressing his own finger on the trigger as well.

_“Ryuuga waka teki wo kurau!”_

He never tried this before –he knows it’s technically possible, the dragons are tied to _him_ , not to his weapon, and in order to summon them he simply needs _a_ weapon, _any_ weapon, as long as it’s in working condition. It’s still incredibly relieving when the air fills with ozone and crackles; Peacekeeper’s bang hastily drowned out by the roar of dragons.

 _Protect him. Protect the young master. Protect them all._ Hanzo feels their energy course through and out of him like a lightning bolt –hotter and faster than it happens when it starts from a bowstring, but he’ll take what he can get.

The heart of the matter is that the dragons have the desired effect, slaughtering their teammates’ assailants as they bathe the room in deadly blue light and then disappear through thin air in a flash.

Finally, silence falls onto the factory grounds.

“What the hell was that? What the HELL WAS THAT?!” not that it lasts long.

Hanzo sighs, head pounding from the unusually taxing experience of sharing his attack with another living being. “I’m sorry; there was no time to explain.” He offers, placing a placating hand on the cowboy’s shoulder –and trying not to look too dejected when Jesse instinctively jolts away, “I was out of arrows, and needed a functioning weapon to send the dragons out to help them. I’m sorry you had to be my weapon.”

The cowboy seems confused and maybe scared –he has a right to be, if he too felt the dragon’s energy run through his body. Judging by the way his metal hand comes up to touch his right shoulder, and shakily thumb its way down his shooting arm, he definitely did.

“Do ya—” His voice cracks. He gulps in a breath and tries again. “Do ya feel that every time?”

“It depends.” He shrugs, almost embarrassed at the intense stare McCree is fixating on him, “I’ve become largely inured to it… they manifested when I was a child, so the shockwave doesn’t quite affect me as much…” also, as a Shimada, he’s attuned to such a feeling and the dragons’ presence is more reassuring than it is overwhelming.

But Jesse is still too dumbstruck by the sheer amount of pure power he felt force its way through his arm and into his gun, to be released with a bang and a roar that might as well have been made for each other.

_How do you not go out of your mind, with something like that inside of you at all times?_

The gunslingers has to blink, to tear his gaze away from Hanzo, specifically from his tattooed shoulder. He has a whole new respect for the Shimada brothers now –he’s seen Genji do some crazy shit, way back when, but this moment of… raw violence, whatever that unstoppable thing was, really explains a lot. He’ll never call either of them crazy ever again. “That was, uh…” mind-numbing. Overwhelming. Beautiful, a corner of his mind supplies, in a twisted sort of way. “…intense.” is what he settles for.

“Um, well.” the archer breaks eye-contact at that, turning towards his brother. “I’m going to go see how Genji is. Then we should scout the area and see what was in here that they wanted so much. Maybe scout the area and make sure the Omnium is completely deactivated.”

Jesse also seems to regain some composure. “Good call.” He clears his voice and approaches Reinhardt, who is being targeted by Mercy’s Caduceus beam to make up for his acting as their meat shield during that last barrage.

“Situation?” the knight asks, and McCree informs him that all the enemies have been neutralized, but whatever they say after that is lost on Hanzo, busy as he is to make sure Genji is alright.

«Holy shit, brother. I didn’t know it could work like that!»

«Honestly? Me neither.» The archer says, breathing out a little disbelieving chuckle, «I had reasonable cause to believe it, but it was more desperation than anything.» Then, taking a page from the cyborg’s book: «I _improvised._ »

«I’ll say… was it hard to control?» Genji asks, sitting up a little but stopping short as a jolt of pain through his side keeps him down, letting his brother help him into a comfortable sitting position.

«Hey, take it easy… how are you faring?»

«I’m banged up, but I’ll live.» Hanzo’s disapproving shake of the head at his casualness would be so much more effecting if his brother hadn’t just out-crazed him in battle, «But did you see me, brother? I _plowed_ through those guys! How cool was that?!»

The archer fights the urge to slap himself in the face –if anything, to avoid hurting himself with his piercings. He settles for a sigh, and then does the one thing he hasn’t done in too long. He indulges his grinning, puppy-eyed, genetically enhanced little cyborg brother: “Very cool.” He deadpans, switching back to English. “The coolest.” He adds, still with a completely flat tone. “I’m very proud of you, Genji.”

Okay, maybe that one is actually heartfelt, but Genji is too busy complaining about his brother making fun of him to notice. They assess their own damage, and after deeming Genji secure enough to move, fixing up Reinhardt and taking note of any other injuries –all minor and easily disregarded, a bump here, a bruise there, but nothing that requires immediate attention – they can finally take stock of the situation.

What they discover is not promising. The remains of what looks like a container crate rest innocently in a forgotten corner, but there are tire tracks moving away from the exploded side of the building. The team deduces that, in the midst of the commotion, the Talon agents grabbed whatever it was they wanted to steal and ran away with it, leaving their soldiers to keep them occupied.

Disgusted horror at using personnel as cannon fodder aside, they grow visibly worried about getting anticipated again.

“There’s a facility building not too far north of where you guys are. Its original purpose is recorded as personnel accommodation.” Winston suggests over the line, “You can find it and secure it to spend the night and recuperate. We’ll talk more when you guys get back.”

They’re all thinking it. Mercy clears her voice. “Um, guys… I don’t want to be the one saying it, but…”

“There’s a chance that Estrella’s device compromised Athena again.” McCree finishes for her, offering a worried but sympathetic look, to assure her that while it is a disconcerting thought, he’s not mad at her for putting it out there.

“It’s possible.” Hanzo agrees, not seeming too angry about it either. “Have Lúcio check again, and see if Athena can run another check herself. Maybe it’s something we missed, maybe it’s not and the reason we’ve been ambushed twice is another thing entirely. Either way, it’ll be worth knowing.”

There’s a certain edge to both of their voices, like they’re decidedly unhappy to put on the spot the child who just recently came to terms with losing her entire family, but they know better than to jeopardize Watchpoint’s safety over the matter.

Winston agrees, and then leaves them to find their shelter and well-earned rest.

There are some reports, sightings of the vigilante known as Soldier:76 and his involvement in several disorders across Europe, and there’s still the recent work of Reaper alongside Talon to wipe out every trace of the organ traffickers’ partnership with them that poses a worryingly real threat, but the scientist is hesitant to actually mark the points of interest he isolated as mission destination.

If something compromised Athena again, it’d be like putting a big beacon on themselves saying “come and get us!”

He bookmarks a couple of locations as “to be further investigated” but does nothing more, preferring to wait for the team’s return and a full debriefing.

The facility building isn’t in the best conditions, but there’s rooms with beds and a communal bathroom on each floor and they only really need something to sleep in and a rooftop over their heads. Just in case, Reinhardt, Hanzo and McCree also agree to take shifts to keep watch, leaving out Mercy because she needs to be in top shape, as their medic, Torbjörn for the same reason as their technician and pilot, and Genji because he was the most heavily injured, having survived a faceful of explosives.

Hanzo offers to take first shift, claiming restlessness. It doesn’t take long for the cowboy to find him.

“Hey, uh… I jus’ wanted to tell ya…”

The archer isn’t in the best of moods, and despite himself he interrupts McCree. “Look, I’m sorry for putting you through that without your consent, but I had to act fast.”

Jesse throws his hands up in a pacifying gesture. “It’s not that, I swear! Hell I’d have probably done the same…” he  counters, biting back a smile, “It’s just… are you alright? I ain’t never felt anything like that, and it left me… I dunno.” Breathless. But no, that’s not even the right word there. The gunslinger tilts his hat up to scratch at his forehead. “I kept gettin’ this feeling. Like pins and needles through my skin, just not painful, ya know?”

Hanzo nods. It got easier to ignore with time and practice. “It fades away after a couple hours. Any residual aftermath should be completely gone after you sleep it off.”

“How do you live with somethin’ like that goin’ on inside ya?” it’s blurted out before McCree can do anything to stop it. “Ah, I didn’t mean it in a bad way, I ain’t sayin’ it's nasty or anythin', uh… It’s just…”

“Jesse.” This time he’s not tipsy and it’s not nearly late enough, so the call of his name shuts him up pretty fast, whispered as it may be. “Stop talking. It’s alright.”

Once again, it’s the face Hanzo is making that floors him. Relaxed, unguarded, almost teasing… but not in the staged, overconfident way of the time he pretended to flirt with him to get back at him for the pet names; this was closer to the sleep-ruffled archer Jesse had the luck to witness in his own room.

They lock gazes, and for a long while neither says anything, until Hanzo’s hand shoots out fast, unexpected and swift –like a dragon. McCree had the irrational fear of being attacked, but it only lasts until the archer pulls him in by the neck and smashes their lips together.

Hanzo kisses like he fights: efficient, demanding, and completely stripping you of any semblance of control. Jesse can barely react with a gasp and pliantly part his lips just enough for the other to nibble slightly at them, sucking away his breath like he’s tearing it straight from his lungs. _Darlin’. Sweetheart. Darlin’ of mine, the things you do to me._ Jesse nearly forgets where they even are, but before he can properly revel in the sensation, it’s gone. The archer releases him, removes his hand from the nape of McCree’s neck and puts a more respectable distance between their faces.

“Feeling better, now?”

The gunslinger can only nod, coherent words not really forming in his brain.

“Good. Go get some sleep now. The sooner we leave tomorrow, the better it’ll be.”

Jesse has the feeling he should say something, anything, even something as stupid as “what was that?” or “what does this make us?” but he’s too tired from the fight and too taken aback to properly address this, so he just complies and goes to take up a bunk.

And to think that, up until some time ago, it’d have to be a cold day in hell before Jesse McCree obediently took orders from anyone.

Predictably, Hanzo doesn’t say a word to him about the kiss, avoiding the matter altogether all the way back to Gibraltar, deflecting every attempt with a “not now” or a “there will be time to talk another time”, or straight out pretending to be doing something else.

They’re all still pretty beat when they touchdown, Mercy hurriedly ushering Genji towards the med-bay to heal the last of the damage and sternly suggesting the others pop in for a check regardless of how they feel. Torbjörn, being the one who sustained the less injuries, offers to take care of the detailed debriefing, subtly allowing both Jesse and the archer to go ask after Estrella’s health and Reinhardt to take some well-deserved rest.

Lúcio seems very uncomfortable when they approach him.

“I, uh… I figured out what happened with Athena.” He starts, as they rest in the rec room and watch from afar as Estrella shyly lets herself be picked up by Reinhardt and offers to do her “cyborg magic” to make him feel better about his “ouchie” –it’s like watching a mouse nurse a giant back to health and it’s adorable, but it’s not what their focus is on. “When she accessed the directory with the corrupted file to delete it, that same file created a log and sent a message back to the device, creating an access point that lasted even after the file’s deletion. Seeing as logs are normally just text files and considered generally harmless, it escaped Athena’s detection.”

“But now that ya know you’re gonna fix it, right?” McCree is not sure he wants to know why Lúcio is stalling, he has a bad feeling about this and his gut is usually right. It might be he’s in a foul mood because Hanzo won’t stop avoiding talking about what went on between them, but he makes a note to corner the archer about that later.

“Of course! Winston and Athena have already done a thorough scan, and I’m helping them establish additional safety features, and this time any and all corrupted files will be quarantined first, marked as temps and then removed from the system…” the musician explains, almost proudly, before a giggle from Estrella makes him turn his eyes to the child for a second. “That’s… that’s not what I’m worried about, to be honest. Winston is brilliant, Athena is a big girl.” Metaphorically speaking, at least, “The real problem is another: I discovered that, in order to access Athena the second time around, the device slotted behind Estrella’s neck has started to emit radiations.”

Hanzo has never been a particularly tan guy, but he feels all colour drain from his face. “What do you mean, radiations?”

“I mean electromagnetic radiations.” Is the predictable answer. “Low scale and close range, but radiations nonetheless. Not nearly enough to be a danger to any of us, but so close to the head of a child that small… it could cause vast damage in the long run, possibly even kill her.”

Jesse suddenly feels like an asshole for thinking sorting out his feeling for Hanzo could ever be a priority of any kind. He doesn’t know what the archer is thinking, but it’s probably along the lines of the Japanese equivalent for “oh, shit”.

Lúcio sighs, clearly hating to be the bearer of bad news. “We’re going to have to consider surgical extraction. The risk rate is high, but now so is the risk of leaving it like it is.”

“No one is cutting into the child’s head.”

“Hanzo—”

“And that’s final.”

“Han—”

“That’s _final_.” He repeats in a growl, eyes closed and fists clenched. When he looks back up, his expression is carefully schooled into nothingness. “Find another way to destroy that thing without cutting her open, or I will.”

Neither of the remaining two stop the archer when he storms out –it’s understandable. They thought the device couldn’t hurt Estrella anymore, it wasn’t design to specifically kill her –problem is, it was never designed to be harmless either. They thought they had all the time in the world to sort the problem out.

Now, instead, it’s a race against time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, okay?  
> I promise I'll try not to take too long with the next chapter, even though it might take up to thursday to come out!  
> Pls don't hate me.
> 
> Feel free to yell at me in the comments, though.  
> Also, it's probably ovious that I'm struggling a lot with properly slotting Reaper and 76 there along the way, but our beloved edgelord is coming soon, at the very least. Not so sure on soldierdad, but it's not essential to our story. So maybe it'll be up for interpretation in the end. I dunno.  
> See y'all next time.


	12. For what it's worth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Only necessity can show the true value of things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. I had planned to fit more points into this chapter, but this is as far as my fingers let me go.  
> Many people will be happy.  
> Some will say that they knew -and I know I dropped enough hints along the way to make this not as much as a surprise as it could be.
> 
> Also, dorks in love.  
> And Genji is still a little shit.  
> Which reminds me that I've planned to build a Genji cosplay for the next London comicon, not this one but the one that will take place in October.  
> (So if there's any UK-based readers among you, feel free to hit me up and we can organize a group or something!)
> 
> That being said, I don't have to repost the Japanese/Spanish guideline anymore, right? I'm too lazy for symbols today. XD

Hanzo is not at dinner that evening. When McCree takes Estrella up to him for bedtime, he doesn’t speak. His expression seems neutral at first glance, but the little low ponytail and half lidded gaze are tell-tale signs of how tired the archer actually is, kyudo-gi also abandoned in favour of sweatpants and at-shirt.

“Hanzo, look…” Jesse isn’t even sure where to start. His mind is still reeling from the moment he got kissed after getting run through by freaking dragons, and he hates himself a little for the fact that the event even holds a candle to the issue of Estrella possibly risking death if they can’t figure out how to remove the device in the next month or so.

Lúcio, Mei and Angela basically buried themselves in the labs to brainstorm, only coming up for dinner and going straight back until Winston _ordered_ them to get some damn sleep.

Now, sleeping child in his arms and faced with Hanzo’s exhausted face, the gunslinger doesn’t know what to say to make that change, and his words die out of his lips.

“No, you look…” had the archer been his usual self, it would have been intimidating to the point of making McCree flinch, but as of right now, tired, sleep-deprived and soft, as Hanzo carefully takes Estrella from his arms, it sounds almost apologetic. “There’s too much at stake right now to indulge the luxury of caring about whatever it is going on between us.” He tries for a smile, but it only lasts a second and doesn’t reach his eyes. “I know it’s only been little more than a week… but I don’t want her to die. Not when it’s my fault.”

Jesse’s heart constricts at the words. “It’s not—”

“It is. Lúcio explained how it got activated in the first place.”

McCree remembers that conversation. It happened after Hanzo stormed out, so he didn’t think anyone would tell him… proximity. Arrival at Gibraltar and close proximity to Athena’s signal set off a timer that eventually activated the device. And since it was Hanzo’s idea to bring her to base, of course the archer feels responsible. It doesn’t matter in his head that the whole team agreed with his decision and Winston, their commanding officer, approved the course of action and supported it fully.

Apparently, nearly dismembering his own brother because of psychological pressure and political manipulation made Hanzo think his own actions carry the weight of _all_ the consequences, circumstances notwithstanding. McCree sighs.

“Hanzo… darlin’, don’t do this to yourself.” He says, rising one hand to caress the other’s cheek now that his arms are free, “You don’t wanna talk about us? Fine. We’ll say I was flippin’ out and that was a mighty fine way to calm me down.” He swallows down the bitterness rising in his chest as he chooses his next words, but he needs to put it out there: “It don’t have to be a big deal if you don’t want no more to come out of it.” It _was_ a big deal, still is for him, but Hanzo is right –they don’t have that kind of luxury right now; “But don’t sink back into what you were before forgiving yourself. Don’t hold yerself responsible for something you had _no control over_. This is the present. Not the past. It’s not on your head this time.”

For the first time, Hanzo looks absolutely shell-shocked. “Jesse…” he tries to say something, anything not to leave the man hanging, but the only thing he can think of is _No wonder the dragons went through him without damaging him in the least._ He is clearly so much more than the cowboy persona and silly hat.

“I’ll be alright, darlin’. Always am.” McCree smiles at him, trying hard to ramp up that southern charm he claims to have while the others tell him he’s just acting like an idiot, and can’t quite help it when the hand on the side of the archer’s face moves to brush a thumb over his lower lip. “You get some rest. Jus’ remember yer not alone. We can all figure this out together.” For a split second, he has the temptation to lean forward –and for the same split-second, Hanzo seems to want to lean in as well – “After that… I’ll be waitin’.”

That last part is clearly meant to be humorous, but it sends shivers down Hanzo’s spine regardless.

 

McCree finds Genji first thing in the morning the next day.

“It is strange to see you here so early…” the cyborg comments, gaze going back and forth between the cowboy in front of him and Zenyatta by his side.

For his part, Jesse seems more than a little uncomfortable. “Well, y’all are gonna start your meditatin’ soon, right? I sorta need to talk to you, and this here spot is nice and quiet…”

Genji narrows his eyes behind his visor. So it’s something McCree doesn’t want to talk about in front of other people, which narrows down the area to one subject. “What did you do?”

“N-nothin’!” too fast, too stuttered. “He’s the one who did the doin’, not me!” Oops.

“Ex _cuse_ _me_?”

The cowboy doesn’t need to see Genji’s face to know it turned murderous with that tone of voice, and before there are any more misunderstandings he settles for telling the cyborg everything that happened on their mission and how Hanzo avoided the issue afterwards. On any other day, he would have found Genji’s protectiveness endearing, but that scared him for a moment.

The youngest Shimada calms down after the full story, and his master’s presence seems to be a positive influence in that direction –Zenyatta seems more amused at the whole thing than anything, and while the omnic’s quiet chuckle does slightly miff Genji, it still serves to ground him a little.

“Okay, I admit it, maybe you’re not just a pervert who wants to jump my brother’s bones.”

“What?!” Jesse doesn’t know whether to be indignant at the accusation or embarrassed because while not being true there’s a tiny part of credit to it. “When was that even a thing?!”

Genji has to take off his visor to properly send him a look that screams ‘bitch, please’. “Clearly, you do not know what your face looks like when you stare at my brother and you think nobody is looking.” His tone is still slightly accusatory, but there’s a degree of amusement in it now. “Nonetheless, I know you better than that, and I know Hanzo would be in good hands with you. Circumstances are against you, but I believe you can work it out. The only advice I can give to you is be there for him –whether he likes it or not. He will push, and hiss, and snarl, but he doesn’t really want to be left alone. I’m willing to bet that’s actually the last thing he wants.”

He hasn’t cancelled the evening meditation with them, after all. McCree seems uncertain, but does stand a little straighter after the advice. “Look, McCree, the fact that my brother ever even touched you is a huge hint.” Genji says, finding the cowboy’s silence unsatisfactory, “He’s not the type to easily get up close and personal. And if that wasn’t enough, he _trusted_ the dragons to flow through you without harming you. That’s not a thing that happens. Ever. Unless you’re a Shimada. Or… otherwise considered worthy.”

“Worthy of what?”

The cyborg’s face takes on a mischievous smile. “Going by what you told me, my brother clearly considers you worthy of lots of things.” He didn’t know McCree could get as red as his sarape, but it amuses him greatly regardless, “All jokes aside, though. It takes a great deal of trust and consideration for such a thing to happen. You have been deemed worthy of being by Hanzo’s side by the twin dragons. If that doesn’t spell deep care for you, I don’t know what will. Even if he’s not talking about it. Give him time –he’ll come around for sure.”

“We all have a dire situation on our hands.” Zenyatta finally pipes in, and it doesn’t take a genius to know what he’s referring to, “But I do believe that, if we work together, we can save the precious, innocent life we’ve come to be responsible for. And that you will find your harmony in the process.”

Jesse doesn’t know how it’s possible, but he can _feel_ Zenyatta smiling at him, despite the omnic’s unchanging metal face. He nods. “I’ll try my best.”

“And that is the most anyone could ever ask for.”

That’s it. The conversation is over, and despite feeling slightly exhausted by Genji’s scrutiny, Jesse has to admit he does feel reassured –at least _he_ ’s not the reason Hanzo is closing off, it’s not something he did or didn’t do. With that worry out of his head, he can concentrate on the really important things.

As they watch him leave, Zenyatta floats closer to his student. “I’m very proud of how you handled that, Genji.”

“W-well…” the cyborg stutters, not quite used to that kind of open praise yet. “I care deeply for the both of them, and only wish to see them happy.”

“Such a feeling is proof of how far along you’ve come as a person. It’s very noble of you.”

“I’m still going to break both his legs if my brother suffers.”

 “Um, well. That’s… understandable.” The omnic’s hands find both of Genji’s and hold them close to his chest, “Still… I am honoured to be able to call you mine.”

Trust Zenyatta to bring such a thing up like they were talking about the weather but still in a way that leaves no room for misunderstanding. The cyborg smiles behind his visor, and leans forward so they bump foreheads briefly. “Likewise.” He murmurs, before straightening up. “Shall we choose a spot and start our meditation?”

 

The rest of the day was spent assessing damage from the second hacking attempt, and this time Winston turned Athena into a fortress –one doesn’t survive a Talon infiltration attempt without picking up a few tricks – while the medic team plus Mei continues the search for a way to safely remove or destroy the device without killing Estrella.

“The problem with surgical incision is how close to the spinal cord the device is located.” Angela pulls up the rx image she took on one pad and her own schematics on another, “Even if the removal doesn’t kill her, there’s still a very high risk to paralyze her –frankly, I’m astounded as to how they even got the damn thing in.” if swearwords are slipping into her professional talk, it’s a sign that Mercy is very, very frustrated. “The device needs to be removed, that’s out of question, but I can agree with you that cutting in has to be considered a last resort.”

After his talk with McCree, Hanzo decided to follow the cowboy’s advice about not isolating himself and instead went to Mercy to listen to their theories and offer any kind of help he could. So far, he doesn’t like what he’s hearing.

“Lúcio and I have developed a theory…” Mei supplies, “A controlled shock would be able to do the trick… if I were to small-scale freeze the area on and around the device, an electric pulse that normally wouldn’t be able to cause lasting damage should be amplified enough by the ice to short-circuit it and interrupt the emissions.”

The archer nods as he redoes Estrella’s braid properly. “That’s promising.”

“The problem with this method is that we haven’t yet figured how to make it selective…” Lúcio pipes in, not quite embarrassed to be talking in front of the person in question but still slightly uncomfortable to talk about Estrella’s condition as if she wasn’t even there, “The water in the ice is conductive enough to destroy the device, true, but it’s also conductive enough that it might, huh…”

“Deep-fry things that should be left alone?”

The musician winces at that. “Should we be saying this in front of the child?”

“Well. It’s her body. Her life.” Hanzo brushes a few stray strands of hair out of Estrella’s face as her feet swing over the edge of the bed. Lúcio is still uncomfortable.

“I know, but she’s… six.”

“From personal experience… keeping a child in the dark about things that directly involve them only ends in disaster.” All three of them exchange looks. Mercy almost tells him to stop projecting his past with Genji on the poor child’s head, but she bites it back as she sees the affectionate way the archer kneels in front of Estrella and takes both her hands.

“Estrellita.” He says, pet name falling out like a habit, “Have you been listening carefully?”

“Yes.” She answers, tiny fingers prying Hanzo’s hands apart to play with his tattooed hand.

“Did you understand everything?”

The second answer is predictable. “…no.”

“It’s alright. I will explain.” The archer replies, smiling softly at her, “The thing that is in your head is very bad for you. It’s going to make you sick, and then get worse and worse. You don’t want it there. Are you following?” a nod prompts him to go on, “We have two ways to take care of the problem, but they are dangerous. One can be done immediately, but it’s so dangerous that it might take you away from me. The other one is also dangerous and needs a bit of time to be perfected, but it could heal you for good.”

Lúcio watches in shock as he sees Hanzo explain to a six year old that she might be dying, somehow without traumatizing her. Estrella nods her understanding again, and her big round eyes look up at him, waiting for what’s next.

“My question to you is: what do you want to do?”

“I…” the little girl close both her hands around the archer’s left, framing the dragon head around the knuckles, “I can wait, if it’s for good.”

Absently, Angela notes her English is getting better, before Hanzo’s voice calls her attention. “Mercy.”

“Yes?” she instinctively turns.

“How long before surgery becomes urgent?”

She ponders it. “Best case scenario before the first signs of damage is four weeks.”

“And worst case scenario?”

Oh. She gets what Hanzo is hinting at. It might well be all they have. Deciding that truth is the best course of action, all things considered, she clears her voice and speaks up. “Worst case scenario, two weeks is all we have before a removal becomes urgently compelling.”

Just as she thought, the archer then turns to Lúcio. “Two weeks is all the time we have to perfect the controlled shock method, then.” He declares, involuntarily making the musician snap at attention, along with Mei, “If we can’t, two weeks from now the surgery will take place.”

“I’ll use this time to try and perfect a technique with the least amount of risks possible.”

“Thank you, Angela.”

Despite everything, the doctor smiles. Hanzo stopped calling her dr. Ziegler.

 

Estrella goes to find McCree to ask him to take her to the beach again, and Hanzo uses the time alone to burn off energy in the practice range. He wasn’t expecting to run into Hana there, of all people, but there she is, hitting away at some targets with the same kind of gun she carries on the off-chance that she gets blown out of her MEKA.

Always good to practice one’s own backup plan, after all.

He greets her, silently asking to join in, and for a while they just train together, practicing on stationary and then mobile targets, the archer giving pointers here and there on aim, posture and the likes.

Somewhere along the simulation, they find themselves back to back, and Hana drops her gun to the floor.

“Hana?” Hanzo was expecting a number of reasons, but none of them was the girl dropping everything and turning to give him a hug.

He doesn’t quite know what to do with himself, the only other person on base who ever hugged him is Genji, and even then it was kind of awkward. For a long moment he just stays there, arms hovering clumsily at his sides as Hana hides her face in his chest and squeezes his midriff, before he slowly starts giving up and wrapping his free hand around her.

Still silence. Hana doesn’t say anything for a good twenty seconds, after which she just frees herself and looks up at him with a smile. “A hug has to last at least twenty seconds to actually make a person feel better.” She explains, matter-of-factly. “You looked like you needed one.”

The archer wants badly to pretend that he doesn’t understand, but the grin on Hana’s face is disarming.

“Oh, and if you tell anyone I’m getting sappy, I’ll blow your goddamn legs off!”

Genji really wasn’t kidding when he said these people were their family. It brings a smirk to his face. “Somebody already tried that.” He says, “I _don’t need legs to win_.”

They resume their training without speaking any further.

 

The new routine at the Watchpoint seems to be taking shape fast. Check for missions or activity reports, do training drills, check on the progress for Estrella, get on with the day.

A couple days have passed, and Hanzo is taking part in the morning meditation once more, since he’ll be busy with Lúcio and Mei in the evening. The air is warm, if slightly humid, and he can feel the rising sun on his skin like a slowly climbing sheet of light. For a blissful while, _everything_ is light.

“-er? Brother? Aniki!”

He opens his eyes with a snap, at the sound of Genji’s voice. “Yes?”

“We’re going back. Want to get breakfast?”

It still feels surreal, sometimes, the thought of being able to just go and get breakfast with his brother, who is not dead and has forgiven him. He’s getting better at meeting such a thought with relief rather than guilt, though, and nods.

As they walk back, Genji slides up to him and clears his voice in a tone that can only mean one thing.

«You’re still not going to do anything about it?»

He should never have told his brother that he kissed McCree. «Don’t you think we have more pressing matters at hand, sparrow?»

«You’re deflecting.» the cyborgs notes, slinking one arm around his brother’s shoulders, «All of us are taking good care of the ‘pressing’ matters. You’re overseeing the work on the controlled shock method yourself. It’s not going to get done any faster just because you bottle feelings up.»

«I…» while very much true, the statement robs him of the perfect excuse to not face his own feelings. «I don’t know if I’m ready yet.»

Genji’s free hand slaps on the visor. «…ow.» subsequently making the visor knock against his own nose. Hanzo doesn’t bother to hide the chuckle. «Well, at least you’re honest.»

They walk in companionable silence for a while, as Zenyatta floats ahead amiably.

«You know, he’s waiting for you, brother.» he nods at Genji’s words. «Even your dragons deemed him worthy.» he nods again, closing his eyes at that much deeper truth.

«I know, sparrow.» he finally says, bumping sides with his little brother, «I will think about it tonight, I promise.»

Genji smiles behind his visor, knowing his brother doesn’t make promises lightly.

 

For all intents and purposes, Hanzo doesn’t get a chance to see McCree until after dinner, when some of them are in the rec room and he’s looking over schematics together with Lúcio, while some watch TV and others take their turn in clearing up dinner.

“You see, everything else works out with a margin of error so small it’s negligible…” the musician explains, in no small amount frustrated by the wall they’ve hit, “We just can’t figure out how to isolate and direct the discharge away from the head and out.”

It’s something they have been talking about a lot, but no amount of chemical schematics –courtesy of Mei– or plain old mathematics, supplied by the archer himself, have offered a solution that takes into account all variables that comprise a human body.

In hindsight, Hanzo should have known that the loudmouthed, over-the-top cowboy who knew next to nothing about science would be the one to give him an answer.

“Ya know what this reminds me of?” he says, tilting his mug of coffee at him, “That time where you used me ta send dragons on the enemy’s ass, up north.”

Lúcio wasn’t there, so he doesn’t quite understand, but to Hanzo is a cold shower. He drops all his papers and calculations, not even registering the scatter of sheets on the floor, eyes wide and lips parted in realization. Dragons. Energy. _Controlled shock._

It can work. It _will_ work. _Protect the little one._ He feels it under his skin. “You’re right…”

Lúcio takes a step back, which means his arm probably briefly lit up, but he doesn’t care.

“You’re right!” he repeats, louder, turning to Jesse and grabbing him by the shoulders. “McCree, you’re a damn genius!” on pure instinct, he pulls the man forward and kisses him on the mouth, uncaring of all the people there to see –it lasts a second, it’s barely more than a peck, but it’s there.

It leaves Jesse more confused than he was before. Especially because before he can say anything, the archer hauls Lúcio away by the hand and runs to find Estrella.

The fact that Genji discreetly tried to hide his snorts behind his visor doesn’t help.

Then it registers in his mind that Hanzo wants to try and destroy the device with _dragons_ and he starts running too.

By the time they’re at the practice range, Mercy has also come along, Genji himself having been dragged by the gunslinger to “talk some sense” into his brother –not that it’s doing much good, because as of right now the cyborg fully supports his brother’s theory.

Jesse and Mercy are the only two people against it, worried that the child will be consumed by the dragons’ power –McCree remembers all too well how it felt, and it’s a bit hard to imagine something like that going through a kid that tiny and doing no damage.

Lúcio has some reservations, but if there’s anything that could be able to defy natural physics and be so precisely selective, it’s a magical spirit dragon, and if Genji also agrees, then hey, it’s as good a theory as any.

“I am confident the dragons will do nothing to harm her.” Hanzo finally tells Angela, taking Estrella by the hand and turning, “But stay close, just in case.”

Angela looks like she really wants to protest, but Genji silently shakes his head at her. “Trust us. It’s going to work.”

Hanzo walks with the child up to the middle of the range, Stormbow in one hand.

“Estrella.” He calls, sitting down and settling her in his lap. “Do you trust me?”

She’s silent for a long while, not turning her head to look at the archer. “Yes.” when she finally answers, she sounds so much older than she actually is.

“Remember how I told you I have dragons, which eat all the bad things that hurt children?”

She smiles at that, and nods.

“Do you want to see the dragons? We can ask them to help you.” He explains, guiding her hand to Stormbow’s handle. It’s too tiny for the weapon, but Hanzo closes his own hand around Estrella’s. “To destroy the bad thing inside of you. Do you want to?”

The little girl seems very eager to see dragons. She nods enthusiastically. “Yes!”

“It’s going to be dangerous, and loud.” The archer warns, taking out an arrow from the quiver and sliding it into position.

“I don’t care!” Estrella claims, instinctively straightening up, “I’m a big girl. I’m not scared of dragons!”

The choice of words brings back memories in Hanzo’s mind, something a few good decades old, and a smile tugs at his lips. He keeps them both still for a little while, humming a tune that is very much familiar to some of the people in the room, before he moves. “Stand up. Put your other hand on the string. We’re going to aim at the ceiling.”

Hanzo repositions the two of them so that Estrella is actually the one holding Stormbow with the arrow nocked in place and aimed above them, while he’s kneeling behind the child, arms around her and hands over hers, to help keep the grip steady and the string pulled –something she wouldn’t have the strength to do alone otherwise.

“Now I’m going to say my magic words, and the dragons will come. It’s going to be loud and scary.” He warns, “But you are safe.”

Possibly feeling the build-up, Estrella sounds insecure. “Promise?”

“I promise, my child.”

“…then I’m ready.”

All the people in the range hold their breath, as they see the archer take a deep breath and guide the child’s hand.

 _“Ryuuga waka teki wo kurau.”_ The call is different from the bellowing shouts they hear in the heat of battle, almost a whisper, but it has the desired effect nonetheless: blue light coils around Hanzo’s tattooed arm, coiling bigger and bigger until it engulfs Estrella as well, the air crackles with ozone and the room erupts with energy.

Estrella screams as the arrow is released and the twin dragons roar and surge upwards, through and over her to follow the arrow that is quick to lodge itself in the ceiling.

When the light dissipates and the room is silent once more, the child has already fainted in Hanzo’s arms. For one moment, Jesse fears the worst and runs up to them, but the steady rising and falling of Estrella’s chest has him breathe a sigh of relief.

“She doesn’t seem to be any worse for the wear, but we probably should take her to the med-bay, all the same.” Hanzo comments, cradling her in his arms and walking towards Mercy, “That way we can also see whether our theory worked or I’ve just terrorized her for nothing.”

“I’m still pissed at you.” Angela remarks, gently taking the child from his arms, and starting in the direction of the med-bay, “But she is fine and… well, if this actually works I’ll be pretty damn impressed.” She concedes, before realizing how that sounds and backtracking to one decision: “But after this, _no more_ testosterone-fueled crazy stunts, okay?”

Both Shimada brothers hung their heads in mild shame. “Okay.” They say in unison, but the good doctor is not quite satisfied.

“ _Promise_.” She orders, knowing the two don’t utter such a word lightly.

“We promise, Dr. Ziegler.”

McCree suddenly wishes he had a camera to immortalize the sight of the last two Shimadas being reprimanded by Angela like disobedient schoolboys, but chooses to say nothing.

 

When the test results are in, they can barely believe it.

The new image showing the device inside Estrella’s body is significantly different from the first one: the object is still there, but in pieces, like a broken and burnt mosaic that only stays together because it’s in a box. Some of the pieces are so small they could be considered grains.

“Yep.” Lúcio comments, double-checking the emission meter, “Not a peep. The radiations have been interrupted completely.”

Hanzo physically slumps against a wall in relief –it’s the most vulnerable any of them have ever seen him, but they’re kind enough not to mention it, and nobody looks at how Genji subtly comes to his side to hold him up.

“Her body will try and expel the pieces over time.” Angela adds, feeling around the back of the sleeping child’s neck with her hands, “The smallest ones will be pushed through and out of the skin, falling out naturally as new skin layers replace the dead ones in the next few months. The bigger ones will be pushed up enough to be removable like normal slivers.”

So nothing that a pair of tweezers won’t be able to take care of.

It’s done. The child is safe. There’s no need to cut into her head and she’s not going to die of radiation poisoning. The dragons deemed her worthy of being a Shimada and destroyed what was hurting her without touching one hair on her head. Hanzo leaves his brother’s side, trying not to think of the implications of such a fact.

“I think this is a good time to apologize for being a complete and utter jackass to all three of you.”

Truth to be told, they have a right to be pissed off at the archer for all the shit he gave them, but this entire situation is just so strange and the relief about the suppressed danger is so big that they just laugh it off.

“Nah man, it’s cool.” Lúcio assures, “I mean, you kind of were a jackass, but it’s uh… understandable.”

Mei just raises a hand. “Requesting permission to punch you in the face if you ever act like that again.”

Hanzo starts laughing so bad he has to cover his mouth to restrain himself. “Granted.” He says, trying to rein in the giggles, “By all means, granted. But you’ll have to get in line after my brother.”

“They’ll be waiting a long time, then, I have a whole lot of dismembering to make up for!”

Hanzo just laughs more at the horrified faces their signature dark humour brings forth.

All in all, it’s a pretty good ending for the evening.

 

To say that the team is relieved is an understatement, and the following day they all get some well-deserved rest. With the device destroyed they don’t have to fear any more hacking attempts, and everything can return to normal.

Well, everything except one thing.

“What do you mean ‘find a place for her’?” Jesse blinks, convinced that he simply misheard Winston –he was on his way to Hanzo’s room to try and finally talk about whatever the thing between them is, seeing as now Estrella is okay and they can actually afford the luxury to talk their feelings out, but no, they were _both_ called up by the scientist, to hear what?

“Estrella cannot stay at Gibraltar indefinitely.” Winston repeats with a heavy sigh. “I know, it sounds bad, and believe me I’ve taken a liking to the girl too, but we’re still illegal, we’re still fighters, and we still risk our lives almost daily. This is no place for a child.”

“She’s not going to want to go anywhere.” Hanzo objects, trying to keep a level head in this, “She has no family, no place to go back to… she only has us.”

The scientist nods, briefly removing his glasses to scratch at his face. “I know. Which is why the two of you are the only ones that could talk some sense into her.” Predictable, but not any less disappointing, “It doesn’t have to be immediate. She is obviously welcome to stay until we find a suitable accommodation.”

McCree almost scoffs at how impersonal that sounds. “Suitable.” He parrots.

“For what it’s worth… I’m not giving you a time limit on this. It’s a delicate matter, take as long as you need.”

They can all agree on that, at least.

“She’s out with Tracer at the moment.” Hanzo supplies, “I think Lena wanted to buy her some more clothes.”

Winston hums at that, a small smile unconsciously making its way on his face. Estrella is a cute child, and her predilection for dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures endeared her to him as well. For all his talk, he’s going to be sad when she eventually leaves. “Very well…” he says, after some consideration, “We’ll take all the time and care needed to ensure she recovered completely from her misadventure with the device, so do not feel pressured into pushing the issue forward.”

The two nod. For the first time in a long while, they’re actually allowed to wait things out and say ‘eventually’. It’s a harsh reminder, but they still have time.

Hanzo is still pensive as they get out of the meeting room. He tries to joke. “So… rock, paper, scissors to see who gives her the talk?” he offers out a hand, but McCree just grabs him by the wrist and drags him to the closest secluded space.

It happens to be the training area B, the one for close combat practice and simulations.

“I’m sorry but I’m done with walking on eggshells.”

“What—” Hanzo doesn’t really have the time to question it as Jesse grabs him by the shoulders and slams him against the now closed door.

“This, Hanzo. Us.” McCree says, closing in his personal space as the archer’s hands instinctively come up to grab at his wrists for purchase. “Ya can’t give me excuses about more important things now. I just wanna know. What are we?”

“I…” not sure where to begin, Hanzo keeps his eyes low.

“Look, if we’re just… I don’t know, two close friends that sometimes maybe kiss… ya can tell me.” The cowboy smiles at him, even though it feels slightly forced, “I ain’t no delicate flower. I can handle when I’m being rejected, I’ll get over it.”

Rejected? Why would McCree even think such a thing? If anything, Hanzo believes he should be the one worried about rejection, considering both the times they ever kissed had been initiated by him –and God, one of them was in front of the entire rec room… Lena has already been teasing him endlessly about it, not to mention Genji’s not-too-subtle ‘advice’ on what to do ‘next time’.

“It’s not that…” he says, finally looking up at the other, and cursing Jesse’s much taller stature for making him feel small. “I just…” the hand resting on the gunslinger’s flesh wrist slowly travels up the arm and to the man’s shoulder, fist closing around the fabric of the red sarape.

McCree closes his eyes and leans his forehead against the archer’s. “Sweetheart, please. Talk to me.”

“Everything I ever cared about…” Hanzo starts, somewhat shakily, “Everything I ever loved… has either been ripped away from me, or ruined by my own two hands. I’m… not the best at believing things will be okay.”

That actually explains a lot. In some aspects, the cowboy would beg to differ –he cares about Estrella and she is still fine, isn’t she? He’s actually the one who saved her, twice over– but he can kind of see where Hanzo is coming from, and in many ways he can relate. Gang days come to mind, then Blackwatch days, and the commander who was almost a father before everything went to shit. His own track record with loved ones isn’t exactly the best around.

“Ah, sweetheart of mine…” Still, he dips down and steals a peck from the archer’s lips, surprised to find them pliant and willing. “That’s probably ‘cause most times everything ain’t okay.” He mutters, stealing another kiss in between words, “But hey, if I have to throw myself in the fray while everything goes to shit…” one more kiss, and finally Hanzo’s hands relax and close behind his neck, actually inviting him in, “I’d rather have ya by my side when that happens.”

Hanzo feels his breath leave him. This man, this person that has been nothing short of extraordinary from day one, who saw through their differences enough to befriend him at the start, and spoke kindly to him as they found their similarities along the way, is telling him that no matter what, he doesn’t want to let go of what they have. Whatever that may be.

No wonder the twins found him worthy, he finds himself thinking once more. He finally allows himself a smile. “I think I’d like that.” He says, tugging a bit at Jesse’s neck to pull him closer. “Now…” his smile turns mischievous as he places his lips by the cowboy’s cheekbone, whispering centimetres away from his ear: “Are you actually going to kiss me like you mean it, or is this the best you can do?”

“Them’s fighting words, archer. You’re on.” Is all McCree says before diving in once more.

Just like he remembers, it feels amazing –or maybe it’s because this time he’s in control, he can pull the archer’s hair loose and card his fingers through it as he wanted to do from the start and give into his every impulse… whatever the reason, Jesse can’t help but think like their lips are meant to fit together, that God created Hanzo Shimada and his tongue for the sole purpose of having him devour both with his own.

Then Hanzo makes a sound –low, guttural and lost in his own mouth– and McCree loses thought altogether. His hand tugs at the right side of the archer’s kyudo-gi, the one that he usually keeps covered, to sharply yank it down and give himself more skin to try and memorize through fingers and lips.

He tilts his head down, to kiss his way down Hanzo’s neck, and is delighted to feel the archer tilt his head back to give him access –the visage of the normally stoic and untouchable man relinquishing control to him doing wonders for his libido as he watches him put a tattooed hand in front of his mouth to try and rein in the sounds. Jesse trails the archer’s torso with his hands, kissing, biting and marking his way through, until his fingers happen to touch the obi belt.

He’s just about to get on his knees and see how much it takes to really make Hanzo forget control and let out more of those delicious sounds, but one thing stops him.

 _“I’m sorry, this training area is in use at the moment, and live ammunition is present.”_ Athena’s voice echoes through the room, probably in response to someone trying to open the door, _“Please hold as verification that the current session ended securely is in progress.”_

McCree has never felt so grateful to an AI in his life. She didn’t even lie, technically –the bullets inside Peacekeeper and the arrows in Hanzo’s quiver are in fact live ammunition, and… well, it was a _session,_ alright.

Despite that, Athena doesn’t quite wait that long for them to compose themselves, and Hanzo barely has the time to fit his right hand back into his sleeve, as the door opens to reveal Genji and Reinhardt, on their way to what would be an interesting sparring match.

Hanzo knows he’s going to be in for it as soon as he locks eyes with the cyborg –he can feel them through the visor, as Genji takes in his dishevelled appearance and loose hair. He shoulders his way past, McCree long gone after having muttered an uneasy goodbye and sprinted out, and for one second he almost thinks his brother won’t say anything this time.

“…holy shit, Aniki.”

He sounds entirely too smug for someone who’s been caught off guard. “Not a word, sparrow.”

Genji imitates the motion of a zipper running along where his mouth is under the mask, and the archer deems it good enough for now. He walks out , ignoring the knight belated realization and amused chuckle, and goes to busy himself with some tea –if that doesn’t work he’ll just go back to his room and have a _very_ cold shower.

And yet, despite the embarrassment at being caught like a teenager, Hanzo can’t help but think that, just maybe, Jesse is right –things might not be okay, might never be okay… but they’re together, all of them, and that might just be enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. One problem gets solved, and another comes up.  
> Estrella cannot stay at Watchpoint -it's a dangerous place after all.  
> But hey, at least Winston it's nice about it and we have plenty of time to go about it carefully now that nobody's gonna die.  
> Oh, and for the curious ones: the thing about the device pieces coming up naturally is based on a real life experience: a family friend had a car accident and her face smashed into the windowshield, embedding glass fragments all along her cheek and neck, but after proper medical care and everything, the doctors took tests and told her that her body would slowly release the tiny pieces of glass that they weren't ale to get. And it eventually happened, over the course of a couple years.
> 
> Also, the brother-talk is coming up next.  
> I can't wait.  
> The whole story still has around 4-5 chapters left, depending on how well my fingers follow my head.  
> Which is not very well, in which case they'd become six.  
> Either way, idk.  
> Here. Have this.  
> Bye.
> 
> See y'all maybe sunday.


	13. Problem Solved?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are good, things are bad...  
> ...things are what they are when you're a family.  
> There's still much to do, but we can take a quick breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUCKING HELL this took a long time.  
> I'm sorry.  
> I've had to work some extra shifts and then I've had a contractor spung a freelance task on me.  
> Nothing major, but it involves working on my laptop and if I'm working on that I obviously can't write.  
> This chapter wasn't even supposed to be a thing, it should have been like little snippets left in the previous one, but holy fuck they expanded on me.  
> so here.
> 
> Fair warning: I'm terrible at writing sex scenes, Idk why, it just doesn't come naturally to me, and that's why you only get to see some foreplay and then I go back into narration.  
> Use your imagination to fill in the gaps, I only had to get some of the imagery out because it's a headcanon of mine that noone will take away:  
> 1-Hanzo actually digs the hat. A lot.  
> 2-the song "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy" is just perfect for him and McCree.
> 
> That being said, this whole thing probably is terrible and rushed, but I hated the thought of leaving people hanging for so long, so even though it's sort of a filler chapter it's here, take it for what you will.  
> I promise next one will move the plot forward some more, but it's gonna have to be next week, after I finish my assignment and can go back to just my two regular jobs.  
> Hope you guys enjoy it regardless.

Hanzo starts noticing a pattern in the next few days. Between drills, missions, reports and all activities that make the new and improved Overwatch what it is, his chances for alone time with McCree are few and far in-between; especially with their mutual efforts to care for Estrella and her recovery.

What the archer can’t quite explain, is how his own brother fits into the situation –Genji seems to pop around more and more often, sometimes at quite the inconvenient time… really, if he was a paranoid ex-yakuza that almost killed his own kin, he’d say his own brother is stalking him.

…Holy crap. His own brother is stalking him.

The realization hits him when Genji and Zenyatta just so happen to come back from their meditation in the forest and by _absolutely random chance_ had decided to pass by the beach to enjoy the sun on the way back. Where Jesse and he were sitting, enjoying a quiet sunset while Estrella was inside, rampaging about in her adventures against Reinhardt the lava monster with the help of uncle Lúcio.

Zenyatta’s robotic sigh, equal parts amused and exasperated, tipped Hanzo off at his brother’s behaviour, if the way Genji practically glomped him wasn’t obvious enough.

«Okay, that’s it, you’re coming with me now.» He grumbles, briefly shrugging off the cyborg to turn to McCree and place a hand on the cowboy’s shoulder. “Can you pass by my room later to bring Estrella to bed?”

“Sure thing, honey.”

The archer scoffs at the nickname, but has to bite his lower lip not to smile, and it earns Jesse a quick kiss anyway. “How do I bribe you into dropping the nicknames?”

“Mmm, I dunno, but by all means keep it comin’.” The gunslinger tries to dive in for one more, but Hanzo pulls his hat down over his face.

“Enough you silly cowboy.” He reprimands, not a hint of actual anger in his voice, “I promised my brother we would not act like gross boyfriends in front of him, so that’s all you get for tonight.”

McCree swats playfully at Genji, who just as playfully swats back. “We’ll see.”

Hanzo’s amused laughter is all the response the cowboy gets, before the Shimada brothers make their way back into base. Zenyatta stays behind for a second.

“For what it’s worth… I did try to stop him.” The omnic says, sympathetically patting Jesse on the back, “And I do not believe that you, quote-unquote, _want to steal Hanzo away to do the dirty_.”

“W-what?!” McCree doesn’t know whether to be embarrassed because it’s partly true, pissed because how could his best friend even think that, or amused at how cute that is. He settles for confusion in the end: “Ain’t he a bit old to do the whole don’t steal my big bro thing?”

Zenyatta does the closest approximation of a shrug a floating monk can make. “Perhaps.” He concedes, “But considering what transpired between them, it’s very likely that any feeling gets highly pushed to extremes. Normal doesn’t quite apply to them, and as they rebuild their relationship they tread grounds that are both worrying and foreign to them.”

Jesse nods in understanding, even though the omnic doesn’t mention a very interesting conversation he had with the archer just a couple of days ago –Hanzo did try to be discreet, gosh did he try, but in the end he had to ask “so what’s the deal with you and my brother?” and it tickled Zenyatta to no end how awkward the elder Shimada felt during the whole ordeal.

 

Back in Hanzo’s room, the brothers finally have a long overdue talk.

«What the hell is your problem?!»

«I don’t know what you’re talking about—»

«Oh, don’t you dare give me that line.» the archer sits the both of them on the bed as he drags Genji down with him by the arm –neither of them bothers with the chair at the desk, having been deprived of contact for ten years and unconsciously getting close at every available chance. «You were so supportive of us before… hell you’re the one who pushed me to do something about my own feelings! What changed?»

The cyborg hesitates. «Nothing! I still am…» he assures, trying and failing to make himself look small. «I just… wonder where this person dispensing hugs and kisses was, when I wanted them.»

«Oh, sparrow…» Hanzo’s scowl instantly melts, guilt and affection mixing together on his face and in his chest. He knows what Genji is actually trying to say –it’s not even about the physical contact, they’re having plenty of that as of late. It’s something that has been there even before their falling out, he’s always been standoffish at best, with everyone, his little brother included, made cold and distant by the constant hammering of propriety and dignity dropped on his shoulder by their yakuza family.

Don’t show your feelings, stand up straighter, hide that smile, act serious.

Somewhere along the way of that, he started refusing his little brother the most basic forms of affection, and is just now starting to thaw –it must sting, to see something you were long denied to be so freely given to someone else, even if that someone is a good friend.

In a spark of boldness, Hanzo reaches up to his brother’s face, feeling about for a second until he figures out how to safely remove the visor. Genji is still too busy being surprised to prevent the archer from pinching both his cheeks. «You know nobody is ever going to take your place, don’t you?»

«That’s good.» the cyborg comments, shaking Hanzo’s hands off to grab him in a headlock, «I’d hate to have to kill your boyfriend after working so hard to get you two together.»

«Hey! Not fair— stop that!» they’re both definitely too old for noogies, but the archer doesn’t really make an effort to wring himself out of the hold, «When did you became such a cockblock, anyways?»

That one has Genji actually snorting. «You wound me, brother! I’m only protecting your virtue.»

Hanzo starts laughing so hard they both tumble to the floor like two ninja sacks of potatoes. When the laughter subsides, however, the cyborg is pensive. «I don’t know, brother. I do like McCree, he’s my best friend, it’s just… he doesn’t know you like I do.» he eventually says, distractedly popping and un-popping his built-in shuriken as he talks, «He doesn’t know how much you tend to give and give and give, until there’s nothing left, and I just—» there’s a pause. They both know Genji was referring to Hanzo’s tendency to constantly meet and exceed all expectation, like he did for their family, relinquishing everything for their approval and never receiving anything, until they took even his own brother for him, and even made _him_ do the dirty work of it… as fate would have it, Genji knows all too well that kind of behaviour is something his brother does with everything –his training, his work ethic, and yes, even his love life, what little of it he ever had. «I don’t want to see you hurt.»

Hanzo smiles at him. «Such a sentiment is worthy of scratchies.» he says, reaching up with his hand.

«Stop treating me like a cat!» the cyborg protests, but offers his jaw anyway. They have an unspoken agreement to not mention the purring sound that ensues.

«All jokes aside…» the archer begins, now that he has Genji more pliant and cooperative, «I really do appreciate your concern, Genji, but really… cut Jesse some slack. You know better than me that he’s a good guy.» he smiles at his brother’s gradually relaxing form, «Also, I’m an adult and I can take care of myself.»

«I know that, but…»

«Finish that phrase and it’ll give me equal rights to keep an eye on you and Zenyatta.»

The effect is instantaneous. Genji tenses up again, sputtering, sitting up and flailing his hands at the same time. «It’s not like that!»

«Sure it isn’t.» For some unfathomable reason, Hanzo is not very convinced.

Genji blushes, but does settle down. «Well it doesn’t work _that_ way, for starters, if you know what I mean.»

The archer knows –and feels another pang of guilt for stripping his brother of something he very much liked to indulge… granted, Genji probably had his fill for two or three lifetimes, but still. It begs the question. «How _does_ it work, then?»

«I don’t… really know?» the cyborg thinks back to the moment Zenyatta clumsily clanked his head to his cheek, which was just the first in a series of little moments where even just proximity was enough to send a pulse of… something through him, but it wasn’t anything like physical lust. He’s not even sure he’s capable of lust anymore. Sure he can still feel and experience touch, but his reaction to stimuli of any given kind are wildly different now compared to when he was only flesh and blood. For one, he finds himself not really yearning for the same type of physical fulfilment. «It’s more of a… spiritual communion, I guess?» he tries, not really able to find the right words, «I don’t quite know how to describe it, it’s a diffused feeling… not triggered by action so much as _interaction_ … it’s, uh… well, from what I gathered so far it’s… less like an act, and more like a state of being. If that makes any sense. It’s nice. Peaceful.»

Had he been anyone else, Hanzo wouldn’t have picked up on it, but being his older brother, the archer just knows. «What you’ve gathered ‘so far’?» he echoes, feeling the beginnings of a smirk on his face, «The brave and bold Genji Shimada, pussyfooting around?»

«I’m not!» the younger instinctively protests, crossing his arms in front of his chest as his brother finally sits up as well, «I’m just… waiting.»

Hanzo almost deems it better not to ask. Almost. «…for?» the deepening blush on the cyborg’s still uncovered face makes it worth it, though.

«F-for Zenyatta to turn 21, okay?» Of course. Of course, why is he even surprised? Here they are, discussing something that all things considered has nothing to do with sexuality and yet Genji still treats it as such, and thus needs all parts involved to be consenting adults. If he wasn’t so busy laughing, he’d be so proud –the age difference between master and student doesn’t even surprise him, not really: for all his apparent wisdom and enlightenment, Zenyatta does seem very ‘innocent’ at times. «Stop laughing, big brother, this is serious!»

«I’m sorry! I’m sorry!» Hanzo concedes, and makes an effort to stifle his chuckles. «That’s disgustingly adorable. Now I’m going to have to go punch a wall until it crumbles down to feel manly again, and it’ll be your fault.»

«Pfft brother, please. You’re dating a cowboy, no amount of punching walls will ever make you look tough again.»

The archer playfully shoves at him as they keep bickering in Japanese, and McCree finds them still sitting on the floor, laughing like they actually enjoy it, when he comes to put Estrella to bed.

Genji stands up and apologises to the cowboy about being a massive cockblock –Hanzo can’t slap his hands over Estrella’s ears fast enough, to which she scoffs and replies in very colourful Spanish that she already knows what that means– and Jesse forgives the cyborg on account of it being good-natured concern for his brother.

“…though if you pull stunts like that again, I am gonna straight up punch ya in the face.”

Genji raises an eyebrow, behind his visor, and the gunslinger doesn’t need to see his expression to know it’s the ‘I’d like to see you try’ face. “Duly noted.” He simply says, and they end up bidding each other goodnight –Estrella even pretends to cover her eyes while Hanzo kisses McCree goodnight at the door.

All in all, life is pretty good.

But of course it doesn’t last.

 

Trouble starts straight back up when the elusive vigilante, Soldier:76 sends Overwatch a message, of all things. Winston is baffled as to how did the man even find his personal email.

_I know who you are. I know you’ve been keeping tabs. Or trying to._

_But this isn’t about me._

_The project with the children and the traffickers was a bust, Talon has been cutting losses and refocusing on pulse weaponry technology, and they got Reaper to be their clean-up assassin –they tried a repeat performance of what created the Widowmaker, it didn’t quite pan out._

_Stolen Vishkar technology is dangerous, but won’t be any good if one can’t use it properly –might still be a good idea to go and blow it up in their faces._

_Here’s some coordinates you might find interesting. I’ll be there on my own hunt, we might just have a common enemy in this whole thing._

_Oh, and word of advice: just get rid of the kid, send her on her merry way._

_It’ll be safer, for everyone involved._

 

McCree’s fists clench at his sides as he seethes quietly while Hanzo all but roars “Who does this man think he is?!”

“I dunno, but that tone sure reminds me of someone.” The cowboy mutters under his breath, getting part disbelieving and part understanding glances by Winston and Angela both.

 _“I have recorded the coordinates and started a tracking attempt on the address the message comes from.”_ Athena supplies, whether to simply keep them informed or intentionally to try and diffuse the situation, _“Shall I mark it as a destination for our next mission?”_

“Might as well.” The scientist shrugs, sitting back on his tire. “Let’s take our time with the preparations, but it might be worth scoping it out. If anything, to write a definite end to the whole Talon tracking devices experiment.”

None of the agents present speak, and Winston takes it as agreement. That’s the simple stuff out of the way. Now for the harder stuff, that might get him turned in a pin cushion the moment he opens his mouth again: “As for the child… it might be time to—”

Hanzo stands, and for a moment everyone thinks he’s going to attack Winston, but he just turns to the door. “I’ll go speak with her.” he doesn’t bother to wait for confirmation that he’s dismissed.

McCree is out of the room before he can even feel Lena’s worried eyes on him.

They’ve talked about this. It’s something that can easily be done, with no cost whatsoever for Overwatch: both Hanzo and Genji have stolen and stashed away enough, in their systematic destruction of the remains of the Shimada clan, to be able to provide a place and appropriate care for the child indefinitely.

Planning it and actually doing it, though, are entirely different things.

Estrella knows something is up when she finds herself sitting on the beachside with Hanzo and Jessito –maybe she did something bad, or something bad happened. The look on Hanzo’s face scares her. He doesn’t look angry, not at her, but something is wrong for sure.

“Do you like it here, my child?” the archer asks, stroking her hair.

She leans into it as she nods. She can’t remember her actual dad ever being so nice to her.

“Would you like it better somewhere else? Somewhere where there’s no dangerous people coming after you, where nothing makes your head hurt?”

For a second, she supposes she maybe would. Also a dollhouse would be nice, but she won’t say because tough girls don’t want dollhouses, but maybe—

[…are you sending me away?]

Jessito his biting his lips. [No, Estrellita, we’d never…] he says, but his voice is doing that thing he does when he’s trying really hard _not_ to say something. [We just want to see you happy and safe. We can give you a new place, a new house. Someone to take care of you, and anything you can ever need.]

She blinks, trying to hold back tears because she’s a big girl. Big girls don’t cry.

[You’re getting rid of me.] her voice trembles. She’s scared. She doesn’t understand what she did wrong and why they’re sending her away, but she’s _not_ going to cry. [I’m little, not stupid! You’re getting rid of me, like the people who sold me! You never really wanted me here, didn’t you?!]

McCree doesn’t need to translate the outburst to Hanzo, the archer can very much guess. The cowboy does switch back to English to try and calm her down, though. “Estrellita, no… you have no idea how happy we were to take care of you, but life here is dangerous, and—”

“More dangerous than people kidnapping me and selling me? Putas excuses!” she shouts back, and Hanzo has to look away. She sure is a smart child.

“Estrella, please…” he tries reaching out to clasp her hands, but she pulls harshly back. “This is for your own good. We’re dealing with some very bad people, any and all of us might be _dead_ any day. You deserve a place where you’re safe. Where you’re free to be the child you are.”

Her eyes narrow, and for a painful moment Jesse thinks that’s the most like Hanzo she ever looked –jaw set, fist clenched and ready to explode. She’s just missing a dragon or two.

“You don’t know _mierda_ about who I am. You just want to not see me anymore.” Standing up, she all but tears her blue ribbon out of her hair and stalks off into the forest.

“Estrella!” Jesse tries to go after her, but the archer grabs him by the wrist.

“She won’t want to talk to either of us for a while.” He says, pointedly looking down at the sand, where the ribbon was left behind. “I’ll ask Genji to go keep an eye on her –she likes him a lot, maybe he can talk some sense into her.”

 

Winston and Athena are up to their ears in their research on both 76 and the coordinates, trying to uncover more information on Talon’s plans about the facility –failed as it might be, judging from the hints in the message, any Talon experiment is bad news. The rest of Watchpoint is very much worried about Estrella, and Hana can’t really concentrate on her games.

She sees Genji heading out as Zenyatta comes to sit beside her.

“How do you do it?” she can’t help but ask.

For a moment, the omnic just tilts his head at her. “Do what, miss Song?”

“Stay so calm through it all.” Is the obvious answer, as she pauses and all but throws the controller on the couch cushions, “I used to be in the military, and I’ve seen— I’ve done— and then…” she takes a deep breath, “Some things you get over, some things you don’t, I know, but the thing is… how can I get it to not hurt _while_ it’s happening?”

If he had any facial expressions, Zenyatta would be smiling warmly at her. “I’m afraid you can’t.” he says, placing a calming hand on her shoulders. “Things happens to us in this existence that will hurt us, because we are flawed and the world around us is also flawed. But hurt is a learning experience. We suffer through it to know better for the next time. We can only come to terms with that hurt, embrace it, and not let it hinder our journey. If we can do that, all obstacles can be overcome, either by our own strength or with the help of those around us that we care for.”

“Should’ve known better than to ask a monk about this.” Is all Hana mutters, bumping shoulders with the floating omnic, but at least she’s smiling again now.

“I’m afraid so, miss Song.”

They sit in silence for a couple of minutes, until Hana finally picks the controller back up. “Want to give it a spin?”

Zenyatta hesitates before taking the controller, but only for a moment. “I’d love to.”

Genji will be back soon, but there’s no reason not to enjoy a quick game.

The cyborg himself rushed to the forest as soon as he heard his niece ran into it headfirst –because yes, as far as _he’_ s concerned Estrella is very much Hanzo’s child, and as such she’s _his_ niece, and he’ll be damned before he lets any more of his family suffer alone.

“Hey, munchkin? You here?”

The tell-tale sniffle from behind the line of bushes would be almost cute, if it wasn’t so heart-breaking. “No. Go away.”

“Come on, munchkin…” he coos, advancing slow and steady, as he would approach a wounded animal –or wounded dragon, heh– “Do you really want to stay mad at your dads?”

Estrella is sitting cross-legged in a small clearing where the berry bushes grow, and puts both hands on her face to avoid looking at the cyborg. “They want to send me away! All of you want to!”

Slowly but surely, Genji manages to sit just across her. “That is not true, child.” He says, trying to keep his tone even and soothing. “It’s just that Watchpoint is a place for warriors, not families. And we’d never just send you away. I’m sure Hanzo and Jesse would come see you every time they could. All of us would. Nothing has to change, except the place where you sleep.”

“Maybe I want to be a warrior too!” she objects, with all the stubbornness of a child, and Genji can do nothing but extend his hands forward and scoop her onto his lap.

“You really don’t want to.” He says, with a certain gravity to his tone, “Not so soon.”

It strikes so close to his own heart. A child so young already speaking about fighting and living as a warrior. Closing his eyes behind his visor, he recalls the time his brother’s dragons manifested –he can barely even remember that, Hanzo was 7 and he was 4. Then there came his turn, and at first he was just so happy to get a cool tattoo and an even cooler dragon… if he had known what it meant, he would have probably preferred to be much, much older when that happened.

Genji watches Estrella, even safe in his lap she is wary, childish crush on him doing nothing in the face of the anger and betrayal she feels; and she’s hugging herself to be as small of a target as possible, right hand’s fingers nervously scratching at her left shoulder-blade, the other hand clenched in a tiny fist so tight it might draw blood.

Eventually, she breaks. “Why?” she asks, as tears start to fall once more and she finally lets her cyborg uncle properly hug her. “Why don’t they love me no more?”

“Oh, child…” Genji lets her hide her face in his armored chest, and takes off his visor to kiss her on the forehead. “Just because your dads have to do something bad, it doesn’t mean they don’t love you.” He assures, taking a deep breath before deciding that it’s his secret to tell as much as anyone else’s. “I’m going to tell you a story, now, and I want you to listen carefully…”

 

When Genji finally returns to base, walking hand in hand with a red-eyed but otherwise calm Estrella, everyone breathes a sigh of relief.

Even Reinhardt gets a little teary-eyed when the little girl sprints towards Hanzo, who was pacing up and down the rec room, and all but jumps into him to hug his stomach.

The archer is confused for a second, but then her words freeze him.

“I know.”

He doesn’t have context, but something about the tone in those two seemingly harmless words and his brother’s body language give it away for him.

“I know.” She repeats, and it isn’t accusatory, angry or even shocked. It’s just very sad. “Uncle Genji told me.”

He kneels, to properly hug Estrella then –this is the first time she referred to anyone in Gibraltar as a family member, and calling Genji her uncle has a very clear implication. “I’m so sorry, my child.” He all but whispers into her hair.

“I don’t want to go. I don’t want to.” She says back, voice still broken from crying, “B-but… if you think it’s good for me… I’ll be a good girl and listen, otousan.”

Once more, Hanzo is paralysed. He can barely find himself enough to raise his gaze to Genji –he’s _sure_ the cyborg is smirking under his visor as he shrugs. There’s absolutely no way Estrella learned the word on her own, so clearly whatever happened in the forest included a quick Japanese lesson, it would appear.

His heart swells and breaks at the same time at being called ‘father’. He takes a deep breath. “There’s still time.” He says, “These things take a lot of time and planning to be arranged, it’ll maybe be months before everything is ready. We can stay together some more.”

Big blue eyes look up at him. “And after that?”

Once again, he’s been so blind. How could this child, this bundle of fighting spirit and bright smiles, be anything _but_ his beloved daughter? Hanzo shakes his head at his own short sight –and he’s supposed to be a sniper. “After that, we’ll see you as often as we can. We’ll pick a place close by, nothing has to change.”

Genji laughs quietly at the choice of words –great minds and all that.

That’s the moment McCree also comes back into the room, and obviously he crosses it in seconds to go and hug Estrella himself. [You had us so worried, babygirl!] he says, [Never scare us like that again, I don’t know what I’d do if we ever lost you!]

It’s probably ruining both their reputations, Jesse’s image of the rugged, carefree cowboy and Hanzo’s silent, aloof persona; but as of right now neither of them cares, they’re just glad to have their child back and are too busy being relieved to dwell too much on the fact that, holy crap, it’s barely been two weeks or little more and yet Estrella has become _their child_.

In the end, Reinhardt is the one that suggests that Estrella needs some rest after all the excitement of the day, and Hana offers a sleepover with Lena and all the other girls, since in all this time they’ve never before had a girls’ night.

Estrella is delighted at the thought, and a big sign of “no boys allowed!!!” gets quickly scrawled on an A4 sheet of paper and taped to Hana’s door, with several exclamation marks all over and angry bunny faces in a corner. The male agents know better than to ask.

Which leaves Hanzo and Jesse walking alone down the dorm hallways for the night –some of the others are still in the rec room, talking and watching TV, but they’ve definitely had enough for one day.

Still… it’s the first time in many days that they actually have some time just to themselves –it’s certainly the first time no protective little brother jumps out from the shadows to lecture them about being “gross boyfriends” with their “lovey-dovey crap”. They have the whole night to themselves.

McCree tries not to think too much about it and was about to ask for his goodnight kiss before walking away, but his words die in his throat: Hanzo doesn’t speak, doesn’t look at him, doesn’t even stop moving as in one fluid motion he unlocks the door to his room and goes inside with just the barest hint of mischief on his face… leaving said door wide open behind him.

Jesse doesn’t have to think twice to follow.

 

Once more, Hanzo finds himself slammed against a wall, as the gunslinger all but kicks the door shut. His former yakuza self would snarl at the manhandling, but as it is he just finds it exhilarating, to be with someone who doesn’t feel the need to treat him with gloves and gives as good as he gets, kissing him fast and hard like he’s teaching him a lesson.

Everything is a challenge with McCree, and the roughness of it all is probably the biggest turn-on of the whole thing. Hanzo almost moans against Jesse’s mouth as he feels the cowboy practically tearing at his clothes, but does push against him when McCree’s hands pull at his obi.

“Bed. Now.” The archer says, yanking the sarape away from the cowboy’s shoulders and working on finally get rid of that ridiculous belt buckle. “Because _fuck_ , it’s either that or right here against this door.”

The last part is punctuated by a pointed tug that finally slips the belt out of Jesse’s jeans, and the gunslinger only smirks as he grabs Hanzo by the wrists and starts walking backwards until his knees hit the bed.

McCree’s shirt gets literally ripped open and buttons go flying here and there, as Hanzo definitely doesn’t seem to want to waste time and doesn’t resist when the gunslinger reaches up to free his hair –he learned earlier on that for some reason Jesse seems to love his hair about as much as the tongue piercing, and is more than happy to indulge the cowboy, especially considering the… sensations every tug and pull at his hair spark in the archer.

“Lord have mercy, sweetheart, you burn me up so bad.” Jesse relishes in the feeling of carding his fingers through the other’s hair, as he pulls Hanzo into his lap and sits up while the archer straddles him. He’s just moving to take off his hat to be able to kiss him without obstacles, but Hanzo’s hand covers his own.

“Keep it.” The archer says it as an order, and he tries, oh he tries valiantly to hide the blush by diving down and getting busy kissing and biting at McCree’s neck, while snaking his hands further underneath the ruined remains of the flannel shirt to memorize every inch of the other’s skin, but the cowboy _knows_.

Hanzo did say once that he ‘doesn’t mind’ the hat. Apparently he likes it more than he’d care to admit.

The very thought sends Jesse reeling. He feels the archer’s hands make quick work of his jeans and grabs at his arms, bringing a tattooed wrist to his mouth to kiss it. Then Hanzo’s hands are inside his pants and coherent thought goes out the window. Jesse instinctively bucks up with his hips, catching the archer off-guard and making him bounce.

“Well ain’t that a mighty pretty sight.” He breathes out, yanking and pulling at Hanzo’s hakama until he has him just like he wants him: naked and willing on his lap. “Ever heard the song ‘bout saving a horse, darlin’?”

“It’s a terrible song.” Hanzo laughs, and it’s a low, rich sound –so different from the dry amusement or light-hearted banter. It’s something dark, dense, oozing into McCree’s chest like someone dipped the sound in molasses. It makes the gunslinger all the more eager to make quick work of preparing the archer and give him a ride to remember.

To his credit, Hanzo barely flinches as Jesse’s hands get busy under him, bracing himself against the cowboy’s shoulders with a shudder and a gasp. “Also— mmh…” he has to pause between words, his breath catches time and time again as he adjusts to the other’s ministrations, “It doesn’t really make sense… shouldn’t—ah… shouldn’t the cowboy be the one… doing the riding?”

This time, Jesse does take off his hat. “Problem solved, darlin’.” He says, accent drawling on thicker with every passing second, as he puts the Stetson on the archer’s head and gives him a good once over. “We ready to tango yet?”

“Well, then.” Hanzo can feel the hunger in the other’s gaze and has to bite his own lips not to smile too wide, as grabs at both the gunslinger’s hands and pins them above his head to reposition himself. “Time to have some real fun.”

“Han, sweetheart, are ya sure—” on any other occasion, the archer would be touched by the obvious signs of care, but as of right now, he’s waited much too long for this and does not intend to wait one second more. He gives Jesse a couple quick strokes with his free hand, just enough to get a feel for it and guide himself on top of the other, before sinking down hard enough to make McCree gasp.

“Oh _please,_ cowboy.” He whispers, leaning forward enough to brush lips, as he tries to imitate a southern accent: “ _This ain’t my first rodeo_.”

“Goddamn, darlin’.” It’s all it takes for Jesse to forcefully tug his hands free and grab at Hanzo’s hips and start moving.

He’s going to make the archer _eat_ those words. Then maybe they can find even more interesting uses for those pretty lips of his. Who knows.

They do have all night after all –and for once missions, vigilantes and enemies can wait: tonight belongs to them, everything else be damned.

Come morning they’ll start caring about the rest of the world again, but right now, the only thing that matters is the heat of their bodies and their lips on each other.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once more, sorry if it sucked.  
> Despite appearances I really tried, and the brother-talk was long overdue anyway.  
> Also another headcanon of mine:  
> robots don't really have sex -I doubt Zenyatta even has any bodily urge at all, save for self-preservation and a vague idea of pain, but anything with a spark of life can sort of feel, so Zenny and Genji can have some more intimate contact, it's just not sexual in the human sense of the word and more like a separate state of consciousness thing. Don't ask.  
> I might elaborate more in the future.


	14. Warrior dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparations are made for the next step, and discoveries are made along the path.
> 
> ...the hard way, obviously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what happens when I rewatch old muay thai movies.  
> These two videos are responsible in particular:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8gge5FD0DM  
> https://youtu.be/xLjw2lhsGBk?t=2m16s
> 
> Sorryfor the long wait,but look! An actual action scene! AND a plot twist! GASP!  
> What's gonna happen now?  
> We're gonna find out soon!

Waking up in Hanzo’s room had been an experience the first time, sure. Waking up in that very same room with a warm, still asleep archer half-draped on his bare chest, tattooed arm softly coiled around him so that the knuckles brushed his beard is… something Jesse can definitely get used to, he muses with a smile.

He turns his head just enough to kiss the hand that was already so close, and feels Hanzo humming as he blinks awake as well. They look at each other in silence for a couple seconds, as the archer folds both his hands over McCree’s heart and rests his chin of them.

“…Wow.” It comes out of Hanzo’s mouth after a while, and he doesn’t even try to hide it. “Just… wow.”

He’s looking at Jesse with something akin to wonder, coupled with an immense amount of fondness, and the gunslinger feels his heartbeat jump at that. “That’s supposed to be my line, sweetheart.” He says, honestly wondering, now that it happened, how exactly this wonder of a man actually found interest in him, the loudmouth cowboy full of bravado, with a gang past to regret and not much else except a bounty to his name.

Hanzo just kisses him in response, close-mouthed and feather-light, but still filled with purpose. “You can have it next time, if you decide to be a real cowboy and do the riding.” He eventually quips, smile turning slightly predatory and making Jesse’s knees weak despite being still in bed.

“Goddamn.” He breathes, carding his fingers in the archer’s loose hair, elated at the realization that now he can do it whenever he damn well pleases, “How in the world did I manage to snag ya up?”

“Oh, it was mostly the ass-less chaps.” It obviously wasn’t, but apparently morning-after Hanzo has as sharp of a wit as training-room Hanzo. Not that McCree minds in the least –it actually gave him a baseline to tell apart the moments of actual flirting from the fake, yakuza-learned seduction tactics: when the archer is really flirting, he keeps a confrontational edge to his words that can drive Jesse up the wall faster than the pull of a rope; whereas the yakuza seduction tactic is much more mellow, almost passive, to let people believe they have a chance at subduing the strong, untouchable man and let them get hot about that.

They hold each other in silence a little more, Hanzo’s thumb absently stroking the cowboy’s cheekbone back and forth while Jesse’s hands are still in his hair, but then the archer finally speak. “I know why I’m privately wondering how I still deserve someone like you after everything I did…”

“Han, don’t—”

“No, it’s fine, hear me out.” He interrupts gently, “I’ll be wondering for a long time. It’s a slow process, and you know my reasons.” Jesse does know, and supposes that the fact that his partner is still allowing himself to have this, despite his reservations, is progress at the very least. “So my question is… why are you?”

 _Should’ve known you’d pick it up fast._ “Sweetheart… I…”

“Jesse. It’s okay.” Hanzo removes the other’s hands from behind his head and brings them to his lips to kiss them. “You’ve done so much for me. Given me so much. Let me do the same for you. You listened when no one would. It’s my turn to listen now.”

It’s true, and it’s been weighing on his heart ever since he responded to the recall –old wounds that never quite healed. Of course Hanzo would see them –they are indeed more similar than it would look at face value.

So Jesse talks. About Deadlock and his old gang days, about Gabriel Reyes and the offer to join Blackwatch or rot in jail, about black ops and field work, up until the day it all went to shit. There are tears in his eyes when it’s done, but Hanzo doesn’t mention them, drying them away with his lips.

“There it is.” The archer says after a while, stealing Jesse’s flannel shirt as they get somewhat decent to go down for breakfast.

For a second, McCree thinks that’s what the archer was talking about. “Hm?”

“What drove me to you.” Hanzo specifies, buttoning up the flannel to hide the red marks on his sides and lower back, “We’re both carrying deeds behind us that we’d give our life to undo.”

Wishful thinking, but a pretty damn big common ground nonetheless. “Guess so, darlin’.”

The archer pretends to huff at the pet name. “Just for that, I’m keeping this for the rest of the day.” He gestures to the flannel, “You scratched me up like a cat anyway, I have to cover the marks.”

Jesse bites his lip to hide a smile, but his heart does jump a bit at the idea that Hanzo doesn’t care about who will see him around base with the obvious proof of their activity.

 

And true enough, Hanzo Shimada in nothing but sweatpants and McCree’s red flannel down at the breakfast table does raise a few eyebrows. Lena chuckles an “About damn time, luv!” that has him huff a little, but then again they haven’t been exactly subtle.

Hanzo is not one for shoving his personal relationships down people’s throat and is generally reserved, but he’s not going to hide the first good thing that has happened to him ever since reuniting with his brother, either. Hana just sits down at the archer’s left, slightly punches him in the shoulder and mouths “You’re welcome.” around her toast.

Estrella is somewhat sleepily sitting on Lúcio’s lap, eating cereal with some difficulty, as her loose hair keeps getting all over the place. Hanzo’s mind goes back to the way he used to tie her hair for her, not even two days prior feeling like weeks ago. Jesse remembers something and stands up.

“Be right back, darlin’.”

The archer barely registers the kiss on his cheek and it’s only a few minutes later that he snaps out of his own musing, at Mei’s squeal of “OhmyGod YES!”

“I picked this up from the beach yesterday.” McCree has a very familiar blue ribbon in his hands, and he’s offering it to Hanzo. “Thought it’d be a damn shame if it got ruined, and there’s a lil’ missy here who seems to need it.”

Lúcio can barely contain his smile as well. “Hey, Estrellita. Why don’t you go ask your dad to do your hair for you, so you can enjoy your cereal?”

All of them put a pretty good effort in trying not to react, but there is a slight stillness around the table that has the archer internally chuckling at how much they’re all worrying. Big blue eyes look at him, unsure like she’s wondering whether she’s still allowed to wear the ribbon after throwing it in his face, and a chuckle actually breaks out of Hanzo’s lips.

She really is his daughter in everything except blood. He extends his arm towards her. “Would you like me to do your braid for you, Estrella?”

The little girl all but runs to jump in his lap, and kisses his cheek twice before settling down enough for Hanzo to do her hair. It will definitely throw to the wind whatever remnants of his distant, aloof persona were left, but as he glances to the side to see Hana whipping out her phone, he just winks at her and starts humming along the now familiar tune.

“Tori no you ni habatakeru nara  
kimi no moto e tondeyuku deshou…”

He almost lost the tune stifling a chuckle, as he sees his brother out of the corner of his eye,  
walking through the entrance casually only to pipe up and make a beeline for them as soon as he hears the words.

“Soshite kizu o otta sono se ni  
boku no hane o sashidasu deshou.”

Genji doesn’t sit at the table, but leans against a wall not too far behind his brother, head swaying ever so slightly left and right as everybody continues having breakfast with the added bonus of a father singing to his daughter.

“Kaze no you ni nagareru no nara  
kimi no soba ni tadoritsuku deshou…”

 There’s a second moment here where Hanzo’s voice stutters, and that’s when Genji discreetly decides to join in, his metallic voice sounding strange as it carries the melody, but not bad at all, even though he sings softer and lower than his brother.

“Tsuki no you ni kagayakeru nara  
kimi o terashitsuzukeru deshou…”

Estrella’s braid has been done for a couple of seconds now, and the archer is just looking at Genji as they sing the last few words together, through what feels like another broken piece of their past mending into something new. The little girl kisses Hanzo’s cheek again in thanks, and goes back to happily munching her breakfast, now that she doesn’t have to worry about making a mess.

Hana tucks her phone away and downs the last mouthful of her breakfast, and finally asks the question: “Where did you guys learn to sing anyway?”

Lúcio nods inquisitively at that. Obviously neither brother had professional training, but they can carry a tune well enough to warrant at least some teaching –as a musician, he is curious.

“Ah, it was just another yakuza thing.” Genji answers with a shrug, “As the heirs of the prestigious clan, we were expected to be well-versed in a number of things, literature, strategy games, calligraphy… music and some musical instruments were a thing too, apparently.”

Hanzo scoffs at the memory –it had been fun to learn with Genji, at least the few things that they did enjoy to learn, but… “It was a pathetic attempt for a family of criminals to try and feel like aristocrats.”

The cyborg ponders the bluntness in his brother’s voice, but has to agree. “Pretty much, yeah.”

By now, the team is learning to just skim over the brothers’ sense of humour, and Lena just giggles along as she reiterates her plan: “We _so_ have to do a karaoke night when we have the chance!”

“It might be a while, considering we still have some business to take care of.” And if that isn’t a far cry from when Hanzo remarked that it would only happen over his dead body… Genji smirks to himself.

“Which reminds me, brother!” he says, “Winston is downloading the coordinates that were in the message and preparing a mission plan, but told me the drills won’t be until the afternoon!”

The archer knows that tone, And knows to be suspicious. “…yes?”

“How about we take Estrella out for a bit?” the cyborg asks, almost bouncing in place. “She’s never been off-base ever since this started, actually stepping foot outside might be good for her .”

That is… true. Despite them treating the child as a guest, she’s technically been a prisoner, never allowed outside until the base was the only option for her –the archer almost has to wonder how much of her attachment to them might be Stockholm Syndrome.

No. He can’t think like that. They never forced her here against her will, the events were simply… unfortunate. They won’t be allowed to carry their weapons because of the PETRAS act and Hanzo will be paranoid for the entire time, but a change of scenery might actually be soothing to Estrella’s soul. And their own.

Almost as if summoned by the deep thought, Zenyatta chooses that moment to serenely float in.

“Good morning, Zenyatta.” Hanzo calls, as Genji begins to discuss excitedly with McCree about things to show to the child and activities to do. “Would you like to come out with us? I might use the help keeping the bakeneko at bay.”

The monk chuckles slightly at the nickname. While Hanzo often refers to his brother as ‘sparrow’, the discovery of the purr-like sound that he inadvertently makes when he gets a bit too hot for comfort granted him the title of ‘demon cat’ –though the one using it is mostly Zenyatta, oftentimes to tease his student in that incredibly endearing state of embarrassment that still erupts in him despite the two of them coming to terms with the closer nature of their relationship.

“Truly, I’d love to…” he says head tilted in amusement, “But all things considered is not a good idea for me to whimsically roam the streets –unlike you, I cannot hide or separate from my weapons, and things are tense as is.”

Maybe some other time, when there’s not so much tension stirring all in one place. Hanzo follows Zenyatta’s line of sight as the omnic sighs, and can’t help but feel like he had been a colossal close-minded asshole, back when he refused the very notion that omnics could be just like any of them.

“You really are gone on him.” He comments before he can stop himself, but the monk just nods.

“It is… very new for me.” Zen explains, left hand reaching out towards one of his orbs to idly bring it nearer to himself and making it chime slightly, “Back in Nepal, I was content to just live as a monk, seeking inner peace and peace with everything around me, before…” before Mondatta died and he realized that passive freedom is not too many steps above servitude. “…realizing that making a difference can be an option. But even after that, I still did not quite live as my own person –my only purpose was to help others, and bring forth peace and harmony. I never once wanted anything for myself…” Hanzo can somewhat relate, having spent a decade as a shadow of his former self, but can’t even begin to imagine how it would be like to never act upon his own thoughts for his entire life. Zenyatta’s tone grows affectionate as he finishes: “…then Genji came along, he became my student, a part of my life, and I knew the meaning of the word ‘temptation’.” The very word sounds wrong in the omnic’s voice, especially so related to his own brother, but Hanzo can relate.

“Yeah.” He mutters, “Genji tends to do that to people.”

Zenyatta chuckles slightly at the joke, but continues. “I feel no desire, I have no bodily urges, and yet, for the first time in my conscious life, I wanted something for myself: to reach out, and keep him close. Close enough that my hand over his heart would be his own, and his eyes would close in my sleep.”

It’s the purest confession the archer ever heard in his life, and he’s left wondering what kind of horrible person would look at this creature beside him and define it a mere machine. The fact that, until some few years ago, _he_ was that kind of horrible person, almost makes him feel the need to apologize to Zenyatta about it. “That’s… that is beautiful, Zenyatta. I am glad my brother has someone like you by his side.”

“Someone like me.” The omnic repeats, and Hanzo wonders if the hint of amazement he hears is because the monk half-expected him to say some _thing_ instead, and decides to reiterate, just to make sure:

“Yes. Despite my past… misconceptions, I truly think you’re the best person Genji could ever ask for.” Yes, Zenyatta. You’re a person. You have a soul. You can love, be loved and have a family.

The omnic slightly lowers his head towards Hanzo, in the best approximation of a bow a floating monk can make. “Thank you for your kind words, Hanzo.” He says, moving to float away to new and exciting sights –maybe the forest, possibly to go see squirrels – “You should go now, they really want you to go outside with them.”

The archer goes to join the others feeling like he definitely made a friend.

 

It doesn’t take long to change in more respectable clothing, although they opt for something more casual than their battle attire, considering Genji will make them stand out enough as is, and Hanzo even drops his hair into a low ponytail, if only to tease Jesse and his inability to keep his hands to himself.

They take Estrella out still feeling relatively safe –she’s been declared missing in Spain, but Gibraltar is British soil, so no one has any right to snatch her away from them, especially with no living relatives to stake such a claim. The little girl is positively beaming at the sight, saying ‘hi’ to every person they meet and even pausing when they stroll through the park to play ball with some little kids who needed another player –and proceeding to systematically kick their butts.

Jesse feels so proud of his babygirl. She was way more invested in Hanzo at the beginning, what with the archer being her first human contact after imprisonment, but sharing a language brings a certain degree of closeness between people, something visceral that nobody can intrude into –he’s seen it countless times in the way the last two Shimadas exchange little phrases here and here in their native language, for no reason in particular other than that they can, be it a big secret or a simple request to pass the salt… all in all, they have a pretty damn good thing here.

He and Hanzo only have come to terms with their feelings for a few days, possibly a bit longer if they count the first time they kissed as a start; and it seems awfully sudden to talk about being a ‘family’ together… despite that, the gunslinger considers the months Hanzo has been in Overwatch, up until they met Estrella those few weeks ago and then beyond. They have been dancing around each other a lot, long enough that what they have now, whatever it is, feels natural.

It may be sudden, or unorthodox, but it’s _theirs_. The very thought makes him sneak his hand around Hanzo’s, as they walk along the street and Estrella breaks into a sprint towards an ice cream cart in a quaint little square, asking Uncle Genji if she can have some.

The cyborg is smiling at his niece as they get ice cream, but Hanzo’s hand tightens around Jesse’s in a way that isn’t exactly affectionate.

“Stop.” He whispers, just as Genji’s head turns towards them, shoulders tensing. “We’re being followed.”

The cowboy barely has the time to wish he could learn how to ninja-sense intruders and stalkers, when a truck comes out of an alleyway followed by a spray of bullets, forcing the two lovers to jump for cover behind the square’s fountain and Genji to duck against the ice cream cart and shield his niece, as the terrified vendor curls up in a ball inside.

The group that exits the vehicle is mixed, humans and omnics alike, but the gear is unmistakably Talon.

“What’s the matter, _heroes_?” a metallic voice taunts derisively, “Caught with your pants down? Unarmed? Too many civilians around for your fancy parlour tricks?”

From behind his cover, Hanzo catches his brother’s line of sight. They flick their gaze towards the attackers closing in and do a quick headcount.

“Jesse.” He calls quietly but authoritatively, making the cowboy snap at attention. “When I move, be ready to intercept Estrella and protect her. Defend from anybody who gets too close. Genji and I will take care of the rest.”

For a second, there’s no sound in the area except the soft music coming from a café just across the street from where they are. Then Genji moves, arms around his niece to shield her as he turns to quite literally throw her at his brother, who jumps out of his cover to catch Estrella in his own arms but keeps the momentum going, twirling on one foot to switch places with the little girl, dropping her off behind the fountain to where McCree is. “Now!” he yells at the cowboy, as the residual momentum all but careens him towards Genji.

The cyborg was prepared for it though, and he catches Hanzo by the arm, hoisting him over his own shoulder as if to throw him off, but instead using his brother’s body as a weapon, bodily flipping him forwards and allowing the archer to drop a hammer kick over the head of the man closest to them, just in time to prevent him from reaching for his gun.

Places switched once more, Genji can dive forward in the middle and grab the barrel of the machine gun the omnic had fired at them, yanking the weapon skyward to make firing useless and bending himself backwards to rest underneath the line of fire –his free hand goes around the omnic’s midriff and holds tight, as the cyborg pulls to stand back up, propelling himself and his opponent forward, successfully pile-driving him into the ground.

Hearing the tell-tale click of a gun safety behind him, Genji turns and high-kicks the weapon from his next opponent’s hand, which would have left him open from an attack to the side had it not been for his brother’s timely intervention: jumping over the omnic the cyborg just crumpled on the floor, Hanzo drops an elbow in the crook of the man’s neck, whose arms slump instantly at the pain and shock of the hit. The older Shimada then extends a hand at his brother and Genji takes it, tugging the archer to himself close enough to grasp the other hand as well to allow Hanzo to take both feet off the ground and take care of the assailant in front of Genji with a fan-shaped kick to the face.

He lands just in time, as the omnic who was on the floor behind Genji starts regaining consciousness, and this time it’s Hanzo’s turn to support his brother’s weight as the cyborg dips his upper body forward to be able to kick his leg fast and hard behind him –hard enough to kick the omnic’s already weakened head clean off.

There’s three more people coming towards them, and they stick close. McCree watches in muted amazement as Hanzo uses his brother’s arm as a pillar to flip his body backwards into the air, kicking the man coming up behind Genji over the head, and then take advantage of the returning momentum to drop-kick the omnic coming in front of them in the neck juncture as he falls back –as soon as the archer lands, Genji shifts his hold on him and twirls around to elbow the third attacker in the ribs, sending him to the floor with a pained groan.

Two men spot him cradling Estrella in his arms and run towards them. While it’s arguably not as refined as the two ninjas fighting almost like they’re dancing, Jesse barrel-rolls away from the line of fire, just in time to avoid two bullets and shield his child from them, before standing up and letting his left arm shoot out, brutally clothes-lining the shooter, who falls victim of his own forward push and chokes on a faceful of metal forearm. The cowboy doesn’t waste time revelling in the satisfaction of pulling off the move, and sidesteps to kick the second assailant in the chest, all the while mindful of Estrella’s presence and relative exposure. As soon as there’s no immediate danger anymore, Jesse scoops the girl back in his arms to go and guide her back to safety.

In the meantime, one of their opponents has managed to knock Genji’s visor out of his face while trying to hit him with a stun baton, but the cyborg just winks at him as Hanzo’s hand closes around the man’s wrist and twists hard enough to force him to drop the weapon. The archer tugs down and the man kneels, allowing Genji to use their joined hands as a foothold to leap forward and kick the gun far out of reach from the last man around them who still had a firearm at the ready.

Now, unless they want to waste precious seconds scrambling for their guns, the Talon operatives attacking them will all be forced to melee. Something tells McCree that it’s exactly what the Shimada brothers want, standing back to back as they are, practically smirking at their opponents.

The one omnic still alive and functioning out of the two tries to separate them, but Genji ducks out of the roundhouse kick while Hanzo dives away and forward to elbow the opponent in front of him in the stomach, leaping back and couching while instead his brother stands back up to slam the side of both his hands in the sides of the omnic’s neck, grabbing a firm hold of it and all but dropping himself backwards as if to rest on Hanzo’s back, one long leg shooting out to kick, hitting the omnic in the stomach and effectively separating the body from the head once more.

Said head gets thrown over the archer’s figure to his the man in front of him square in the chest before he could properly recover and attack Hanzo. Genji extends both his hands up and backwards, not even looking behind as he feels his brother grab on both, allowing him to yank up and flip their position over once more –one would deem it almost unnecessary, but moving constantly and erratically prevents your enemy from taking aim and striking properly, and when it’s just two people against a good dozen, it’s definitely a good idea.

The cowboy is almost amused to see Hanzo dropping in what looked like a trust fall in the arms of the man behind him –who would have otherwise been in front of Genji– hands clasping up behind the attacker’s neck in an almost intimate hold as they briefly lock eyes sideways. For a second, McCree could have sworn the assailant was embarrassed at such a proximity, but the archer doesn’t waste too much time having fun with it, as he uses his opponent’s body as a pillar and jumps up and over. Hands still holding on said opponent’s shoulders, Hanzo’s landing allows him to pull the man down with him and basically slam his head into the asphalt.

Definitely another one out for a good while.

On the other side, Genji got grabbed by the wrists by two men trying to flank them, but the cyborg just dropped his whole weight backwards, surprising the men with the sudden need to hold him up and jumping at the last moment, taking advantage of the pull of gravity to yank the both of them down to kneel on the ground as he backflips out of the way and then turns, swinging one leg around to deliver a swift kick hitting both of their heads in quick succession.

Jesse can barely believe his eyes as Genji even allows himself to take a few dance steps to the rhythm of the music still coming from the café down the street, despite the gunshots and sounds of battle having scared civilians into clearing the area many seconds ago now. He has to admit that the brothers' coordination and ability to flow with one another is impressive. _Some bonds never really break apparently, not even in the face of disaster._ The thought makes him smile.

Ten down, one recovering and just a couple more to go.

Genji leaps up, grabbing a clothesline hanging low from a nearby balcony and using it as a spring to propel his body into the air just in time to avoid another stun baton hit to the chest, turning his bust in the air to get a good swing and land a roundhouse kick between his attacker’s shoulder-blades instead, sending him facedown and finally unconscious.

The cyborg crouches as he lands, intercepting his brother moving backwards to avoid a direct hit to the face and letting Hanzo basically sprawl across his shoulder –Jesse absently notes the archer is much more bendy than he previously thought and stores the knowledge away for later, because god _damn_ – and once more the brothers switch positions: Hanzo finishes his leap backwards, hands on the ground and feet swinging in the air to kick his new opponent in the neck, right under his chin, and Genji uses his crouched position to jump high and grab at the clothes line again, this time hoisting himself up to tangle one leg in it and reach upside down underneath him, grabbing the least of their opponents by the arms and taking advantage of gravity once more as he swiftly drops his free leg to kick the man in the face.

As his brother jumps down, Hanzo smiles at him and gestures for McCree to come, believing they’re in the clear, when one of the men still choking on the floor reaches into his pocket for a remote.

“Screw this… R16, activate.” He manages to rasp out before finally losing consciousness.

There’s a moment where all three agents try to deduce what R16 is and where the hell they heard it before, but the shot that would have hit Estrella square in the face hadn’t it been for Jesse placing himself in front of her and deflecting the bullet with his metal arm springs them all into action.

Hanzo dives sideways to grab Estrella and protect her once more, while more shots ring out and this time it’s thanks to Genji and his quick defence with his wakizashi that they’re still unscathed.

The figure that comes out of the truck at last doesn’t really have a facial expression, left eye shining an unnatural red and arm poised to shoot. It steps forward mechanically, without any intent or emotion –only Estrella’s wavering voice gives away a hint as to what’s happening.

“…R-Rico?”

Genji’s mind blanks as his last coherent thought goes to the clean-up duty with McCree, shortly after the mission when they found Estrella. They didn’t bother to count the bodies, they wouldn’t have known how many were there in the first place. _Corpses all look alike, after all._

The boy doesn’t look any older than fourteen, with short curly hair and what once probably was tan skin now looking greyish and sickly. He takes aim once more and out of instinct the archer dives forward and kicks him in the chest, sending him stumbling back. He hears Estrella shout, and he did try to hold back somewhat, but little boy or not, it’s still an armed hostile, and all of them are still braced for a fight as they watch the teen stand back up and retrieve his gun, wordlessly and expressionless.

Hanzo doesn’t want to harm a child if he can help it, but the boy has them at gunpoint and if he absolutely has to choose between sparing the boy and protecting his child—

“Whew! That was close!” an accented female voice suddenly speaks up from the voicebox of one of the ruined omnics, as they watch dumbfounded while Rico, or R16 as the Talon agent called him, simply slumps forward in a kneeling position, like a puppet with its string cut. “Good show out there, hermanos. Maybe now that they’ve seen it won’t work when you don’t expect it, let alone when you do, they’ll actually drop this estupido project.”

“What the hell’s happening, who are ya?!” Jesse yells, looking around to try and find a source.

When his answer is only a chuckle, it becomes clear that whoever is speaking is not in the area. “Calmate, vaquero. I’m not there at all.” The woman says, not without some amusement, “I’m just a girl who’s not too happy about her tech being misused. We might not be friends, but I don’t want this crap around any more than you guys do.”

“Why save us, though? You could have let him kill us and _then_ intervened to retrieve him.” Built-in yakuza paranoia or not, Hanzo doesn’t trust her. “You want something.”

“Ay, so suspicious… but perhaps.”

“If you think for a second—” the archer’s vehement rebuttal of whatever deal she’d be offering gets interrupted by her laughing again.

“No worries, it’s just a little itty bitty thing.” She assures, “Your little chica over there. I want the thing in her head removed, destroyed, whatever, I don’t care how.”

It’s almost too good to be true. “…That’s it?” Genji asks, incredulously, “Girl, it’s already done.”

“Really???” the voice asks, dragging out the word, “Nicely done, gentlemen, really nicely done.”

There’s a small pause, with the only noises being Estrella whimpering in mild shock and attempting to reach out to her friend; and McCree gently restraining her and trying to reassure her that everything is okay.

“…Now what?” Hanzo eventually asks.

The voice considers it. “Now, as payment for my help, you three take you little broken girl and get out of here, forget anything ever happened.”

The archer is not too happy about it. “And what of the boy?”

“You’re adorable.” The woman mocks through the speakers, “But that is no boy. The niño was much too dead already, they couldn’t recreate what they did for— uh. Me and my big mouth.” She seems almost sheepish at her own rambling, “It’s not alive anymore, not for real. It doesn’t have a consciousness, or any memories. It’s a weapon. A defective one if you ask me, so you get your asses away from my business and I’ll do what I can to put an end to this shit-show. _Vale_?”

The brothers exchange a pained look. On one hand, leaving a fourteen year old at the hands of Talon and believing the words of a stranger about it is nothing short of abhorrent for them; on the other hand… Estrella has calmed down some, but she’s still crying, and has already almost died once more. Plus, there’s no telling whether there’s reinforcements coming or not, and they’re unarmed –not to mention tired from one melee fight already.

McCree heaves a broken sigh. “Let’s get the fuck back to base.”

 

Predictably, Winston is not happy. But for once, it’s not them he’s unhappy at.

“I should have figured they’d try something like this!” he muses, flopping angrily on his tire, “They already broke in once, and as far as they knew Estrella still had an active and arguably valuable piece of tech in her head.”

“That may be, but they seemed more interested in tiring us out before bringing out the boy.” Genji supplies side-eyeing his brother and the worried frown still marring his face.

Estrella has been left in the loving care of auntie Hana and uncle Lúcio, the former distracting her with videogames and the latter providing soothing music to calm the girl down and low-key take care of the aftershock, but both Hanzo and Jesse were obviously reluctant to let her go.

Still, talking about this is important.

“They called him R16.” McCree recalls with a sigh, elbows on the chair’s armrest and knuckles tucked under his chin, “Estrella called him Rico.”

Winston makes a sympathetic noise and takes off his glasses to rub at his eyes. “Athena, can you check the tablet’s database?”

 _“12 results for Rico. 7 of which are of Rico Dominíguez de la Luz, correlated to all results pertaining subject R16. The subject underwent conditioning experiment, and is documented to have had a device installed in his neck as well.”_ The AI supplies, grimly detached and professional, _“The nature of the device is significantly different from the E5 series, and it’s documented to be an enhancement of the sound-conditioning technology Vishkar is known for.”_ There’s a long pause after this, during which none of them speaks until Athena’s voice rings out again, softer this time: _“…I’m sorry. There are no deactivation hints in the schematics, and removal of the device is contingent with the subject’s death.”_

The first thought in Hanzo’s head is _This could have happened to Estrella._ It reminds him of the blind cruelty of chance. Had things gone different, the boy that’s now a puppet in Talon’s hands could have been the survivor. The archer’s mind goes to dark places, the only thing shaking him out of his own thought being the reminder of Genji’s words, as he told him time and time again that dwelling on what has already happened is fruitless.

He still feels the stirring within his flesh. _Protect the little one. Protect them both._ It’s so intense he almost feels the twins move underneath his skin, and has to take a deep breath to calm it down.

“If we take into account Soldier:76’s message, it makes sense.” Winston speculates, rubbing pensively at his chin. “He hinted at us that Talon was trying to make more brainwashed soldiers. Maybe this boy was meant to be a prototype for a new and improved type, something perfectly moldable, without a will of its own, but something was deemed wrong with it and whoever pulls the strings called for a drawback.” The scientist hops off the tire and starts pacing, words tumbling along with his back and forth. “Hence the Reaper getting hired to get rid of all witnesses and destroy all the tech. We managed to swipe the tablet under his nose, but everything else got disposed of –I’m starting to think whatever was in the factory up north was related and that’s why they took it and got the hell out… but of course failure is not something Talon takes very kindly to, so while the Reaper is busy cleaning out evidence, whoever is running the project kept tabs on the info provided by Estrella’s device to get some men into Gibraltar and make a test run. If they could manage to swipe their so called ‘E5’ back and get rid of three Overwatch agents in the process, surely their superiors would reconsider the project’s worth…”

“So they were basically makin’ a sales pitch for their lil’ operation using the kid as a demonstrative piece?” McCree’s words are veiled with barely contained disgust, as Winston’s theory seems the most plausible.

Genji nods tersely. “Considering we only got away without engaging the subject thanks to a third party interference, the chances Talon might reconsider the project are not entirely over…”

“It might be a good idea, then, to follow this Soldier:76’s advice and put an end to this for good.” Hanzo offers, glancing over to the desk where schematics concerning the coordinates sent by the vigilante are laid out, “We research the place, plan out a good attack, send a full team, and make it so that no one who is even remotely interested in this barbaric project lives to pursue it.”

Harsh, but understandable. It’s also self-preservation, if the subjects’ existence and involvement with Overwatch sends Talon basically at their door over and over.

Whether or not saving Rico and helping him recover his own life is actually impossible like the mysterious hacker told them or not, they’re still going to investigate it. A contingency plan for the child’s appearance in the mission will have to be formed, as well as a tactic to apprehend him without hurting him.

For now, they all agree to get some rest, have some lunch and start the drills later in the afternoon.

 

Estrella does feel a little better, playing a game with dinosaurs shooting bubbles out of their mouth along with Hana, a bit cheered up by her favourite animals and all the brightly coloured candy and fruits they collect along the way; and the music Lúcio is playing in the background is nice and soothing.

The girls are sat on the ground, in front of the console, while Lúcio is resting on the beanbag, just behind Hana. They spent the better part of an hour calming Estrella down, reassuring her that her friend didn’t hate her, that person was not really Rico and that her dads would protect her and everything would be alright. She’s a smart little girl and doesn’t quite believe them, but their care does make her feel better.

“No! Nonono, damn you, purple whale!” Hana cries out half-heartedly, as they lose their final life and the screen blinks with a game over message. “Stupid whales.”

Lúcio chuckles as the gamer huffs and crosses her arms, leaning back on him with a pout. “Aw, don’t be mad, Hana, I think we were having a _whale_ of a time.”

“Ugh, come on! That was horrible.”

“Do you always get this grumpy when you lose a game?”

Hana turns to face Lúcio indignantly and pinch his cheeks as she repeatedly reminds him that she still kicks his ass at every game the base has to offer, and they struggle for a bit until they hear Estrella giggle.

“See? Estrellita sees the humor in loss!”

The little girl just shakes her head. “No… I’m sad that we lost, but…” she then stands up, dusting her light grey skirt and turning tail. “I go to Lena now. Thanks for the game!”

Both Lúcio and Hana are left somewhat confused by the secretive smile Estrella just gave them before leaving, and it takes a couple seconds for Hana to realize that she was basically sitting in Lúcio’s lap and that it might be a good idea to get off the poor guy.

She puts some distance between them, as she meekly offers the musician the now free controller, while valiantly trying not to think of the possibility of having been set up by a six-year old.

 

The team ends up allowing Estrella to watch the drills, even though they rotate between several teams of six and the people not involved in a specific turn could have watched over the child –it starts with Estrella making puppy eyes at Reinhardt enough for her favourite lava  monster to let her sit on his shoulder just outside the practice area as he waits for his turn to be the tank, skimming through a mild protest from Hanzo on how dangerous it is, and ending up with the archer himself going to the bench after his drill to sit the child on his lap.

Completing the scene with the quick kiss on the cheek McCree brushes past Hanzo with, as he takes his place for the sniping role, it’s enough to give cavities to the onlookers.

“You know…” Mercy muses, as she takes cover behind Genji and simultaneously boosts him up, “At first I wasn’t sure why you even brought ‘someone like him’ back, why you forgave him in the first place… but this whole adventure is really showing what kind of person your brother truly is.” She allows herself a small smile, even in the midst of the simulation. “I’m really happy he found his place here.”

The cyborg can be heard chuckling. “ _You know_ …” he echoes, with no small amount of amusement, “With time, I realized that everyone who looks at me makes the same mistake.” He explains over the comm, expertly dodging the bots’ attacks to then embed some shuriken in them, “They look at me and see a victim. They forget that _I was an assassin_ , _too._ My brother didn’t sneak into my bedroom and maim me. He came to speak to me, tried to talk. I told him to fuck off, and it ended in a duel.” It amazes him how many people just take for granted that Hanzo killed him in cold blood like a big bad wolf, while on that fateful day he had been waiting for his brother with Ryuuichimonji already drawn and hungry for blood. It was a dark time in their lives. “A _proper_ fight, that I just so happened to lose. Had I been faster or stronger, that particular day, it might have ended differently. You guys could have found _his_ tattered remains instead.”

And maybe it’s on purpose that the cyborg says this over the comms, where everyone in the team can hear –while the days of distrust toward Hanzo have been long gone for a while, the issue has never been properly addressed save by a select few who bothered to actually talk to Hanzo himself, and there is a small hiccup of silence at that.

Athena’s voice is the thing to break it: _“All targets eliminated, Simulation over.”_ , when Genji takes advantage of the small stumble in everyone’s actions to dash between bots and just skewer them all.

“So…” the cyborg chimes happily, going to settle beside his brother and ruffling his niece’s hair, “What’s for dinner?”

Dinner turns out to be Genji’s favourite shoyu ramen, courtesy of his brother and extra spicy for him. Apparently, it’s good for Hanzo’s sanity to remember that no, he never was a cackling supervillain raining doom down on his brother, and he did get his ass whooped on their second duel in Hanamura. After all, two people are needed for a fight to take place.

And hey, if it gets him spicy noodles, Genji is not going to complain. Mei is trying to teach Estrella how to use chopsticks, while Hanzo quietly assures her that it’s fine, she will learn eventually but for today let her have the fork –the child seems all the more determined to learn, absolute mess irrelevant in her eyes, and Lena comments with a chuckle that she’s inherited McCree’s visceral response to any and every challenge.

“Speaking of challenges…” Lúcio says around a mouthful of noodles, “Is a team of six really gonna be enough, when we get on location? Kinda feels like an all hands on deck situation…”

Winston shakes his head from where he’s been quietly munching on some fruit –hot red peppers are not good for gorillas– “It will have to. Any more, and passing under the radar is not going to be possible. We’re still technically illegal, and we still don’t have enough public sway to be able to get the UN to loosen up the PETRAS act at least a little.”

“Still, might be a good idea to send a team and then have some back-up prepped, just in case?”

The destination is not too terribly far, and while there would be a significant wait should back up endeavour to reach the first team at some point, it’d still be better than nothing –stalling for time in battle is nothing new to any of them. They all end up agreeing that it’s definitely an option and that in the next couple of days there’ll be drills adapted to the situation, while Estrella eventually gets the hang of her chopsticks enough to yell out a satisfying “Ha! See?” as she slurps her noodles and continues, [I can do this shit, it’s easy.]

[Language, Estrellita.] McCree warns from her left,

“And don’t talk with your mouth full.” Hanzo reminds her from across the table.

Her victorious smile falls, and for a second she grumbles something about “putas manners” but she gets nudged in her little feet by Genji, who nods again in the archer’s direction. Hanzo is still looking at her, his smile small but his eyes bright and stupidly, incredibly proud of his little girl.

Estrella finds herself smiling back, but the thought quickly leaves her mind in favour of a more pressing matter. “Oh!” she exclaims, all but jumping down from her seat and waddling up to none other than the cyborg himself. “Uncle Genji!” she then calls, eliciting coos from the ladies in the team, who find the title nothing short of adorable, “I want to apop— uh, I wanted to a.. apol—” the word is not quite coming to her, and rather than trying further she shakes her head, face slightly scrunched up, before continuing, “—to say sorry. For, uh… in… incon—” this time she seems determined to get the right one out, as she specifically asked Hanzo for the proper word to use, “For _inconveniencing_ you. Yeah. I uh… don’t want to be a bother, and… I really don’t mind if you kiss Uncle Zenyatta, as long as you both are my uncles and love me too!”

There’s a sound coming from the omnic monk, which Genji recognizes as some processes halting and restarting within him. Zenyatta literally had a cuteness overload and stopped working for a second. He himself doesn’t know whether to be amused, embarrassed or elated.

“I’m sorry, what were we talking about?” the omnic serenely asks, floating over to Estrella to pick her up. “Were we talking about hugging this child? Clearly, she is too precious for the human world and needs to be hugged at all times.”

Laughter erupts all around the table as Zenyatta picks up the child and sits her in his lap, her wonder at floating around mid-air never ending and immediately prompting a cry to adventure –which usually means playtime in the rec room. “Aw, luv, you really mean that or you’re just saying it because she gave you her blessing?”

“Sorry, Zenyatta.exe cannot function at the moment.” Is the reply, as he makes his way out of the kitchen with the child, “Activating ‘noble floating steed’ mode, to fly out towards adventure and slay lava monsters.”

Jesse finds Hanzo’s gaze, as they laugh along with everyone else, and knows the archer is amused, but pensive. “What are you thinkin’ of with that face, honey?”

“I am thinking…” is the slow reply, as Hanzo’s eyes flicker towards Genji for a second, “That if I could freeze-frame a moment of my life and call it family… it would be this one. You, by my side. My brother, and the rest of our friends around us. Our child playing.”

This is what the rumbling under his skin was about the whole time. _Protect the little one. Protect him. Trust the young master._

_Protect your family._

McCree’s breath catches in his throat upon hearing Hanzo openly referring to Estrella as _their_ child, albeit in barely more than a whisper, and he reaches over to grasp his hand across the table. “Me too, sweetheart. And goddamn if I ain’t gonna fight to defend this.”

In the past, Hanzo would have thought feelings like love and devotion were a weakness –they hammered such a notion into him to steer him towards cold, detached rigor. Now he knows better. When you have something to protect, something to love, something you hold dear…

…that’s when your enemies don’t stand a chance.

He can’t wait to get on with this mission and write the end of Talon’s involvement in Estrella’s life.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. I still have to decide which six are going to go meet up with Soldier, I'll have to mix new recruits and old school vets if I want to have a reasonable setup for someone recognizing him... but that's talk for the next episode, heh ;)  
> Also it's probably gonna be complete and utter mayhem, so yeah.
> 
> We're getting close to the end! It's only gonna be three or four more chapters now! (depending on how well I stick to my keywords... which is usually not very, lol)  
> I'm kinda sad but kinda excited as well?  
> Oh, by the way: if anyone wants to make fanart of this, from any point in the story at all, by all means feel free to do so, I'd be nothing short of honoured.  
> There, I said it.  
> Um, see y'all next chapter?
> 
> EDIT: I realize now I never put down the translation for the other parts of the song. Here they are:  
> If I could flow like the wind  
> I would fly over to reach you
> 
> If I could shine like a moon  
> I would keep shining on you
> 
> all in all it's a goddamn beautiful song.


	15. Fired up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You're never really rid of a problem if you don't snip it at the source.  
> Sometimes it's just not clear how much that's going to take.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY FUCK this chapter kicked my ass.
> 
> I'm not even sure what the hell I wrote, but I've kept people waiting far too long.  
> Job's been kicking my ass too, especially since I've started building my Genji cosplay on the side, it means literally zero free time.
> 
> I'm very sorry if the fighting in this seems sloppy, I really tried my best but just.  
> Ugh. Forgive inconsistencies and chalk them up to 'game logic'. I don't know what else to say, I've got work in 40 minutes and I have to go.
> 
> EDIT: Now that I'm not 5 minutes away from losing my bus, I can do all the things I forgot to, like include a link to the game that made me think "Holy crap if Genji and Hanzo played this there would be legit tears." Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is an actual game, and a very beautiful one at that. Very emotional without a single actual word spoken.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfEILU7SCEM&list=PLMBYlcH3smRzTxJ7oP6ZnRJtXqxG9jpYn  
> This is the playlist to a full Let's play, so be prepared for spoilers and yadda yadda.
> 
> Pls don't hate me. >w<

_Winston,_

_Coordinates are unchanged, but they’re ramping up the security on the place._

_I know you like to play it safe, but the more you wait the more prepared the enemy’s gonna be for you._

_Just bring Reinhardt along, you know he knows how to face enemies in waves, and for God’s sake get yourself a good sniper. Maybe one of them dragon-boys, or both._

_I’ll be waiting._

_-76_

The Soldier is most definitely right, Winston ponders as he goes over the message, what strikes him as odd is the familiarity with which he’s speaking –it wasn’t quite there at first, but as the correspondence went on it slowly emerged. It seems the vigilante has a knack for suggesting strategies and almost flat-out giving orders. Also, he seems to know Overwatch pretty well, especially the old guard.

“It has to be him.” The scientist nearly jumps as McCree speaks over his shoulder. “Son of a bitch. He was alive the whole time.”

“You really think it’s him?”

The gunslinger has his fists clenched by his sides and can barely speak through the clench of his jaw. “He’s the only person that would know some of the things he wrote.” He grits out, trying very hard not to punch something, “If that’s not him we should be worried about who leaked such private information, some of which was never digitized in the first place.”

Winston ponders. He knows Jesse is right. “I think we should call Angela here.”

 

Hanzo is not too worried by his partner’s absence at the moment, focused as he is on the game that D.Va insisted he and Genji just _have_ to play. It’s a very old game, but the concept is very original as both players have to share a controller and the entire gameplay is built on cooperation –which, after hearing from Jesse about how flawlessly the two fought together, came to Hana’s mind and she just couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

And okay, maybe the fact that the game was called “Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons” factored in on it. Hana never quite asked for details, but she knows enough to realize that sometimes they still look at each other and wonder about what ifs with regret.

As irony would have it, Hanzo took the left side, controlling the older brother, and Genji took the right, controlling the younger one.

“Ooh, look. This is just like back in Hanamura!” the archer jokingly comments, as the little brother on screen refuses to swim until the big brother offers his shoulder, and Genji bristles.

“Your face is just like Hanamura.” He mutters, not moving too much not to jostle the dozing Estrella in his lap, leaning to the side as he is as the brothers share the controller between them.

Hanzo lets out a confused laugh. “You know you’re comparing my face to one of the most beautiful places ever, do you?”

“…Shut up and climb the stupid wall.”

Behind them, Lúcio chuckles. The game goes on for a while, and everyone present gets more and more engrossed. D.Va assured them it’s not a long one, 3 or 4 hours maximum, so they agreed to do it all in one sitting.

“Get away from my brother you stupid wolf!”

“This is so lame, why can’t I kick them in the face?”

“Your character is probably not over twelve, Genji, you have to rely on me.”

“I’m not saying I don’t trust you, brother, but –WATERFALL!!!”

The shout startles Estrella, but she too starts eagerly follow the adventure of the two tiny characters on screen, or at least tries to, while the real-life brothers watch their virtual counterparts almost drown and face off against trolls and collapsing structures. An hour later, she is asleep again, and the brothers are in the process of saving the girl character from cultists and yetis.

“No, hey, don’t you kiss him on the cheek, you little— damn it what’s with people trying to fuck their way into my brother’s good graces?!”

Lúcio laughs again. “Oh wow, someone is possessive.” He supposes it’s normal after what they’ve both been through, but sometimes he has to wonder if it’s a cultural thing altogether, considering the very deeply rooted concept of filial affection the Japanese seem to have.

“Don’t be like that Genji, we already saved her life, what possible other motive might she have?” truth to be told, Hanzo didn’t much care for the onscreen romance, but he really was just going through the motions at this point, finding odd the orange character’s reluctance to go in the cave… up until the lights turn off and the girl reveals herself as the spider lady.

The fight is brief, but the way it ends makes both Shimadas jump.

Genji straight up gasps when the older brother gets violently stabbed in the abdomen. “No!”

“What— I’m not playing anymore, my trigger doesn’t do anything.”

They all watch the heart-breaking scene of the two brothers finally reaching the Tree of Life, and the little brother trying his best to save the big brother limping alongside him up to the Tree base, but coming back down too late.

Hana already saw this, but she’s still just as silent as the rest of them. The cutscene ends, and Genji can’t quite believe it. “No. I _have_ to do this, game? You’re gonna fucking make me bury him?!”

The hug between Orange and Blue’s ghost is nice, but it only makes it all the more harrowing to watch.

“Don’t tell me I have to freaking _push the mounds of dirt on him?!_ This is _so_ messed up!”

Hanzo doesn’t quite have the same energetic reaction, but he silently agrees. His hand is just resting on his side of the controller, just as support for Genji’s hold since the cyborg’s other arm has been draped around his shoulder the whole time and his little brother doesn’t seem too keen to move.

They watch as Orange does the whole journey back on the gryphon, landing back at the river.

“What do I do now?! I can’t swim!”

Hana has to cover her lips to hide the smile. It’s really sad, but also really sweet. She watches as Genji runs around blindly for a while, trying all of his buttons. Well, all except one.

“Wait…” Hanzo murmurs at one point, pressing _his_ trigger button.

Blue’s voice echoes on screen, encouraging Orange, who finds his courage and finally gets in the water and swims. The same happens with the lever and the wall to climb.

By the time the final cutscene rolls in, both brothers are stone silent. The cyborg’s hand over Hanzo’s shoulder has clenched into a fist, and the archer’s free hand goes to rest over it, softly prying it open just enough to hold it.

Lúcio is the first to speak. “Holy crap, that was so sad! Like… they saved the dad, but at what cost? It makes you wonder, man…”

It rings deep in the actual brothers’ ears. It does make one wonder. Unlike the two pixelated characters, they are both alive –they too faced immense loss and heartbreak, but they came out alive.

Visor long forgotten on the coffee table, Genji turns to look at his brother. “Well. If there’s one thing we learned is: bros before hoes. Don’t trust spider ladies.”

Hanzo can see his little bro is still thinking about it, much like he is, but lets the joke diffuse the mood as he adds his own: “It’s a good thing I’m into cowboys, then.”

“Oh gross!”

“Hey, you started it.”

Hana watches them bicker good naturedly, and feels kinda proud of herself for bringing those two one step closer still. They can act like all is good as much as they want, but full reconciliation is a hard thing to accomplish and, well… a reminder that the important thing is that they’re still together can come from all sources. Even games.

They get up and out of the rec room just in time to cross paths with Winston, Angela and McCree. The scientist informs them that tomorrow is going to be the last day of drills before they follow the direction to Soldier’s coordinates, and Hanzo goes to put Estrella to bed.

He misses his goodnight kiss, but Jesse looked shook about something, and would tell him in his own time.

 

The drills are going well. In the next 24 hours the chosen team will be ready to deploy; and after this whole mess is behind them they’ll finally be able to get back to taking occasional missions actually supported by governments to appeal to the UN in the hopes of chipping away at the PETRAS act little by little.

A long way to go, but as of right now they have to focus on what’s in front of them.

Which is Soldier:76’s insistence that they “cut the crap and get to it” as the last message so eloquently put it. For an independent vigilante working alone, the man sure seems to know a lot about the dynamics internal to Overwatch in general and some team members in particular. It rose more than a few suspicion’s on Soldier’s intention and/or his identity, and after whatever private conversation happened yesterday between the scientist, Jesse and Mercy, Hanzo sees Jesse’s mood sour considerably.

The archer’s first few attempts at figuring out what’s wrong are met with insecure silence from Genji and a short-fused brushing off from the cowboy –he has to restrain himself from punching McCree in the face and tell him to either suck it up or actually talk to him so they can face this thing together, but he decides to take the high road instead, leaving the room after one deep breath and exiting the room to seek out Winston. Jesse can talk to him again when he’s done being an asshole.

“Look, however sensitive it can be, we’re in this together, right?” finding Hana and Lúcio already talking to the scientist is a relief for Hanzo, it means at the very least that he’s not alone in believing they should all be on the same page, and it’s not just his feelings for Jesse speaking, “You can’t expect us to go into battle without the same degree of knowledge. If nothing else to be prepared if someone gets emotionally compromised for whatever reason.”

Not for the first time, Hana sounds way wiser than her age and the archer idly wonders whether it’s fair that she had to grow up so damn fast, but as for the matter at hand he wholeheartedly agrees. Even Mercy has been slightly standoffish since the supposed conversation the day before and whatever it is that it’s stewing them over it’s not good for team dynamics.

Winston does relent after a while, heaving a big sigh.

“It’s not really a secret anyway…” the scientist says somewhat guiltily, as he has been vague with his words on purpose as well, somewhat unsettled by the development of the situation and not quite knowing what to tell his friends, much less the recruits, “The guys are merely reacting to the possibility that the person hiding behind the callsign Soldier:76 might actually be ex-commander Jack Morrison. We all thought him dead, and the chance that he may have been actually the one to keep tabs on us and not the other way around hit some of us harder than others.”

Lúcio explodes with questions –including but not limited to: how is it possible? What grounds are there for such assumption? Has he said anything to point you in that direction? And many other questions that, given the moment and the revelation, make perfect sense, and both the musician and the D.Va eagerly listen to everything Winston has to say, but Hanzo’s mind goes reeling with only one interrogative.

_That’s fucking it?!_

Outwardly, he’s calm, but his brisk strides as he stands up and exits the meeting room to go find his brother and _then_ his idiot boyfriend speak of a hidden tension in all of his muscles. He finds Genji playing in the rec room with Estrella and Zenyatta, and doesn’t waste time in grabbing the cyborg by the wrist.

“Up. Now.” He barks, nodding at the monk and briefly softening his tone, “Zenyatta, could you please watch Estrella for a little while more?”

There’s a private amusement in the way the omnic tilts his head in an affirmative nod, like he saw this coming, knowing everything that Genji does, and is enjoying the result –if nothing else, it will be a lesson to all involved– while Genji lets himself be dragged along, dumbfounded.

Jesse jumps when the door to his room slides open to a yell of “Really, you _monumental_ _ass_?!”

“W-what?”

The archer doesn’t waste time. “Winston just decided it was okay to update us on the situation.” He lets the phrase sink in and watches McCree’s expression turn slightly sheepish, before repeating: “Really?!”

The cowboy does turn a bit defensive at that. “Hey, cut me some slack!” he protests weakly, “It’s not every day you find out your dead commander ain’t dead. I mean, I was never too close to Morrison, but still! It was a big part of my life, gone just like that, and having the asshole pop up again, like he’s coming back from the grave, ya can’t—”

Hanzo theatrically gestures to the entirety of Genji’s body before Jesse can finish the –admittedly foolish– thought. The gunslinger does instantly bite his lips.

«Brother, did you really drag me over here just so you could do this?» the cyborg doesn’t know whether to be offended or amused.

«What can I say? I know how his mind works.» is Hanzo’s reply, «Our experience is a perfect case example on people not staying dead.»

“Hey! No talking behind a man’s back in Japanese, y’all!”

Seeing his escape, Genji just pats his brother on the shoulder. “I’ll leave you two to sort this out, aniki.”

Undeterred by Hanzo glaring arrows at his retreating form, the cyborg flees the room, leaving McCree to deal with a fairly pissed archer.

“You should have said something.” He is indeed pissed, but not as much as he was when he first entered the room, “That goes for all of you, but _you_ … you should know you can talk to me.”

And wow, Jesse does feel like an ass now. The archer’s stern countenance does melt away a little, as his expression gradually gets less intimidating; and the cowboy lets his back relax.

“I’m sorry, okay?” he finally says, extending his arms in the hopes that Hanzo will come forward and let himself be hugged, “I’ve been a real ass, it’s just— there’s a lotta things I’m still bitter about…” to his relief, the archer does come forward, and McCree can’t remember a moment in his life where he’s ever felt as warm and safe as he feels now, enveloped by Hanzo’s arms as he stands in front of his sitting form. “And I can’t stop thinkin’… so many things I wanna ask— so much he disappeared without explaining, the _dickhead_ — and I just… that’s so messed up.”

Hanzo runs a hand through the cowboy’s hair, making soothing shushing noises along with his rant. “It’s okay, Jesse.” He assures, leaning down to kiss the other’s forehead, “You received a blow that made you question things you thought you knew with absolute certainty, and it made you close into yourself. You could have told me, and I’m still pissed you didn’t… but I of all people know it’s not so easy to just talk.”

It’s definitely something they’re going to have to work on, but as of right now the archer is just glad it wasn’t anything threatening or bad. He feels McCree melt more into their embrace.

“I do feel bad for giving ya the cold shoulder…” Then Jesse’s hands move lower towards his hips, as the cowboy’s lips mouth the next words against the bare part of his chest, and Hanzo loses all will to be even remotely mad at him: “…but I know just how to make it up to ya…”

From the other side of the door, Genji hastily leaves the spot from where he was keeping a discreet listening distance, ready to intervene if the fight got too out of hand… he’s glad things got resolved, and he does feel a swell of pride at Hanzo’s ability to make McCree beg ‘please.. oh lord please, more’ within the first five minutes of making out, but that’s his cue to leave if he ever heard one.

 

The cleared up air is beneficial to relationships and training alike, and soon enough the teams are ready. Six people are to board the transport to travel to the coordinates for the mission first thing in the morning, and the back-up team will stay at the ready in case there’s any catastrophe.

«You’re getting better at that.»

Hanzo can only make an inquisitive sound, mutely asking his brother what he means, as he dries off his hands after washing his teacup. The cyborg nods towards his hands, and finally he gets it.

They’re not as red and raw as he used to get them –he always thought he was careful and that Jesse was the only one who noticed his little tick, but of course Genji would know. The sparrow is sneakier than he gives him credit for. «Well…» he tries, not quite meeting the other’s eyes, «I’m raising a child now, can’t have her believe that the proper way to wash your hands is scratching until you bleed.»

The chuckle that follows is humourless in the darkness of the kitchen, and Genji gets out of his chair, walking to the sink until he’s side by side with his brother. «Hanzo, come on…» he almost pleads, purposefully taking both of the other’s hands into his. This is so not what he meant when he said he wanted to have “a late-night cup of tea, just to settle the pre-mission jitters”. «Do you remember the other day? When we found out about subject R16?»

«How can I forget? It nearly gave me a heart attack—»

«Remember how well we fought together?» the cyborg forcefully tugs his brother forward, curling into himself just enough to drop his forehead on Hanzo’s left shoulder –it might be because he knows it’s there, but he could swear he feels warmth coming from the dragons underneath the archer’s skin even through his visor. «We hadn’t practiced that in such a long time, and yet… it was there.»

There would be thousands of logical arguments against what Genji is trying to say. Muscle memory, the basics of martial arts that you never really forget, the teachings of a thorough master that warns you that at least once in your life you will be outnumbered and unarmed, so might as well know what to do with your body and the bodies around you… and then the words that accompanied such teaching echo in Hanzo’s mind: _at the end of the day, all that you have will be each other, nothing more._

Memories of a virtual story ending in separation and tears still fresh in his mind, Hanzo can’t say anything for the life of him.

«Want to know what I thought when you took the jump, in the middle of bullets flying past our heads and a child risking her life?» Genji does make an expectant pause, but doesn’t really wait too long to continue: «I thought ‘There you are, brother. There you are.’ I had so much fun.»

«I should yell at you for that.» because really, having ‘fun’ while there’s Talon agents attempting to harm your little girl is not something you really should be feeling, but… Genji’s always been a multitasker, and Hanzo’s comment doesn’t have nearly as much bite as it should. Especially because he’d be a hypocrite otherwise. «…I did miss it, for what it’s worth.»

The feeling of being in a team, of having full trust in someone to watch your back… it’s something the archer learned to accept in his months as a part of Overwatch, and having Jesse by his side has been an eye-opening experience… but there’s something about standing shoulder to shoulder with your little brother that can’t really be replaced by anything –apparently, Genji feels very much the same about him.

So yeah, maybe his hands will never be clean of his mistakes, but he can still use them for good.

The cyborg takes advantage of their position to give Hanzo one last squeeze, hugging his brother goodnight. «Estrella will be waiting for you, right?» he asks, amusement evident in his voice as he’s still getting used to the idea of his brother actually accepting the girl as his own.

«She’s actually sleeping in Jesse’s room tonight, since she never did before.» Hanzo is thankful for his brother’s continued support, more than he could ever say; at times it still feels like he’s taking more than he has a right to, but then he realizes: who would have taken care of the child, if not him? Who would have stayed by the cowboy’s side? Things are bigger and broader than him and his self-loathing; and as of right now he’s just glad that Genji has chosen not to comment on when or how the gunslinger stopped being “McCree” and seamlessly became just “Jesse”.

The cyborg just slightly tilts his head, and Hanzo knows he’s smirking beneath the visor nonetheless.

«Sparrow, I swear—»

The archer barely twitches and Genji already jumped back and out of range of possible swipes at his person. «My lips are sealed, brother. Have a good night.»

 

The following morning Estrella is very reluctant to let go of her dads as the teams prepare for their mission, especially when she finally understand that they’re off to do something dangerous, which no one told her –as if being on base and looking at the combat drills didn’t already clue her in– she almost rolled her eyes when Mei tried to cover up her slip assuring her that they’d be fine; grownups, seriously… but she does get pensive.

The truth of it is that it hadn’t really sunken in that every-time her new dads leave she might not get to see them anymore. Estrella hugs herself, fingers scratching absently at her shoulder-blade. Winston’s rumbling voce is drawling over the speakers, reminding everyone of their positions and objectives once they reach whatever a coordinate is; and she takes one last look.

Renardo sure looks a lot more scary in all that armour.

Taking a step back, Estrella watches uncle Lúcio and Angelita talk animatedly about something –they seem to have forgotten about her for a second, and there’s _so many_ noises. The hatch to the transport is almost closed, she can only see a glimpse of otousan’s gold sash. _There._

 

The coordinates provided by Soldier:76 take them back to England –making the team wonder how much did they want to keep this project under wraps to spread it so thing among countries… but then again, if there really has been fighting on the inside between those who saw it as a failure and a waste and those who wanted to pursue it further, it does make sense to move around to stay under the radar, especially if whoever is coordinating the project has yet to prove its value to their superiors and Reaper has been employed to clean up after them.

“Everything okay, sweetheart?” Hanzo doesn’t even bother narrowing his eyes at the gunslinger anymore –he’s learnt to read behind all the names, and sweetheart is one Jesse doesn’t actually use to address anyone else, so he lets it slide.

“I’m fine.” He shrugs, moving along the transport to double-check their equipment before they land. “I just… already feel like they’re watching us.”

“Han, you can’t let nerves get ya like that—” McCree was halfway through a hug when the archer suddenly sidesteps out of it, head snapping in the direction of a stack of crates.

“Who left that open?”

Hanzo’s voice raises enough that the others on the transport follow the line his hand points to. One of the crates that hare supposed to contain spare med-packs has been left with the lid askew, and the equipment in question is scattered among the other crates. It happens fast, much too fast for the team to really get what’s going on until it happens, but the archer covers the distance between himself and the crates in three quick strides, and reaches a hand inside.

“What are you doing here, young lady?!”

Predictably, his only response is a fast stream of high-pitched Spanish, equal parts angry, scared and guilty, as Hanzo picks up and out a very familiar blonde child, who is probably complaining loudly about one of the archer’s hands tugging harshly on her ear, while the other lifts her by the armpit.

Tracer tries not to get distracted from the pilot seat, but the rest of them just explodes in a flurry of the same question: how did she get in there, why didn’t anyone find her, and what are they going to do now?

It the meantime, adoptive father and daughter are still having somewhat of a screaming match, and it almost looks like he understands her, when he cuts in through her words: “No, don’t give me that tone! There are rules for a reason, Estrella, our work is very dangerous and you need to learn to listen!” he reprimands, “You could have gotten hurt! We didn’t even know you were in there!”

Realizing she’s not going to win a roaring match against a dragon, Estrella quiets down, pouting and worried that archer dad is going to be mad at her. Seeing her hug herself, waiting for God knows what punishment her mind thought of, Hanzo’s voice softens for a second, sounding almost impressed:

“Hey… we didn’t even know you were in there.” He says again with a wink, before clearing his voice and retrieving his stern voice from before. “Tell me, child, do you know how to write?”

Estrella is confused, but considering she was bracing for a beating she’s not going to look a gift horse in the mouth and nods weakly: “…I know how to make letters and numbers, yes.”

“Very good. When we get back to base, I will give you pen and paper.” The archer explains, picking her up again to go join their teammates in the seats, “And you will write ‘I will not walk head-first into danger’ one hundred times. In English, then in Spanish, and I will also show you how to write it in Japanese.”

“Not to put pressure on anyone, but we’re ten minutes away from landing!” Lena’s voice reaches them and Genji looks at his brother, as Estrella complains some more in Spanish but does eventually quiet down as she sees all the grownups getting very serious.

“We don’t have the time to drop her back at the base and come back…”

The archer nods. “Neither can Tracer leave us as sitting ducks while she takes her away after dropping us off.” Ideally they wouldn’t be sitting ducks, but it always pays to have a quick escape route just in case. Especially considering no plans survive first contact, as Estrella’s appearance so eloquently demonstrates.

“Listen to me, babygirl.” Jesse finally pipes in. “When we land, you stay with Lena, inside the transport, y’hear? Lena will keep ya safe.” He then nods towards the pilot, “If for any reason ya have to up and leave the transport, you zip her off to Zenyatta, and our big guns will defend the both of them.”

Tracer only nods as she initiates the landing sequence. “Roger that!”

Hana and Reinhardt exchange a worried look, but they don’t really have much of a choice, and can only hope Estrella doesn’t see the outside of the transport at all. After calming down some, the child looks actually sorry about sneaking in, and the way she hugs her own form is almost breaking Jesse’s heart –especially because he understood her whole little rant and among the cursing and the complaining there was an “I wanted to be there for you and Jessito, too” that shot to the cowboy’s heart truer than any of Hanzo’s arrows.

He nods to the archer to switch seats for a second, and looks placidly down at Estrella.

“Are you mad at me?” she asks, tiny voice unfairly insecure.

McCree sighs. “Well, I am mad.” He says, knowing he has to be stern or the girl will sneak into more and more dangerous situations, “But not at you.” He adds when he sees her face fall towards tears, “I’m mad that you’re in danger, but you didn’t know any better. You’re still in trouble, and you’ll have to do yer writing and think about what you’ve done… but that don’t mean we don’t love you anymore, babygirl.”

The last part is said with a smile and a caress to the cheek, before Jesse clears his throat in an attempt to go back to a more serious expression. “Now hush. Yer still grounded.”

They touch down a little away from the exact building –which seems to be an abandoned power plat that was repurposed for research, but when the team gets there they’re quite surprised to find that there’s already a scuffle going on.

Someone is engaging what looks like guards posted outside the complex, and the fact that nobody is coming out to check what the hell is happening tells them that either the people inside cannot hear or they’ve been specifically instructed not to come out, possibly because they’re guarding something more important than their comrades.

Hanzo finds a perch to settle in as he scales a ruined building just to the side of the one the noises are coming from, sending out a sonic arrow and scanning for enemies and the emissions show a lone figure ducking under cover to avoid the fire of the four men going after him.

“Stand back, scatter arrow flying in!” he calls over the comm, before shooting and releasing the cluster of projectiles. It only kills three out of four targets, the last one being just out of range, but Soldier:76 does quick work of that.

He meets up with the rest of the team, and Jesse is barely containing the urge to punch him.

“Don’t think you can pull a vanishing act on us after this is done.” Is all the cowboy says, “We have ninjas and they won’t hesitate to shoot you in the goddamn legs.”

Soldier just grunts in non-committal, and they get into their positions around the entrance. Hanzo stays outside, just out of view but in perfect range of a window he can shoot through –his emissions are revealing a good number of men inside, a first dozen already in range whose positions he can properly communicate to the team.

D.Va fronts the first assault, busting the doors with her MEKA and taking the offending force by surprise. They do get a surprise in return –the abandoned power plant has been repurposed as a laboratory for research, and there’s at least three more bodies contained in suspension tubes, none of them older than fifteen– but their highest priority right now is fighting off the Talon agents and putting an end to this dreadful project.

There are people who look like civilians, wearing lab coats instead of tactical clothing, and they’re rushing to cover the experiments and try to drag equipment out of the line of fire. Jesse doesn’t feel pity as he shoots one of them in the face, before having to concentrate back on the armed men trying to close in on them.

A piece of ceiling collapses right in front of Hanzo’s line of sight, and he’s forced to reposition. “Tracer, the fight is rapidly getting destructive! They’ll need us inside!”

He jumps from one rooftop to another, while she barely voices her approval and zips by to drop Estrella off to Zenyatta’s care –the healer is their best bet in keeping the child safe: his orders are to hang back and support from a distance with his orbs, not to engage unless strictly necessary. Reinhardt is constantly in front of him, putting up his barrier whenever enemies get a little too close for his liking.

It’s still a less than ideal situation, but they have to work with what they have.

“Do not look and keep your head down, child.” Zenyatta says, as he hugs Estrella to his chest protectively with one hand, flinging his orb of harmony towards Hana with the other while the D.Va all but throws herself in the middle of the room to fire at the bulk of the men opposing them. Some of them ducked under cover but a good few where incapacitated if not outright killed, even though the most prominent result was the total destruction of two of the three suspension tubes.

As he uses the commotion to sneak past his enemies and assault them from behind, Genji privately wonders whether that was Hana’s intention all along, to avoid more children getting resurrected into killing machines.

Something just caught on fire, meaning they’ll have to be quick to dispose of the Talon agents, find what they were looking for and get the hell out.

“Well this is going just swimmingly!” Soldier comments, sarcasm dripping from his voice, “Tracer, head over to the higher floor and do a quick scope-out of the computers, All their relevant data is in there and you’re the fastest one.”

Jesse would like nothing more than to shout at the man that he’s not in charge anymore, but Lena is their best shot at quickly zipping by undetected and destroy the computers, so he just agrees and jumps out of his own hiding spot to provide cover fire for her: “Go, go, I got yer back!”

Just as Tracer separates from the group, a cloud of black smoke starts to form in the building.

“Finally!” 76 roars, immediately focusing all of his attention on the wraith who just set foot in the place –foolish move, considering he offers his flank to the people he was just facing, but maybe his personal motives are getting the better of him. Luckily for him, Reinhardt instinctively comes to the rescue and charges the three attackers, prompting smashing them into a wall.

“You shouldn’t be here.” Reaper’s gravelly voice resounds over his shotguns, as he and 76 go toe to toe, “I’m not here for you today.”

“Well tough luck, I ain’t gonna let you kill these kids.”

The eyes behind the mask almost seem to glow for a second. “You haven’t changed, Morrison. Still presuming you know everything and always assuming it’s about you or your people.” The wraith fires a shot that grazes 76’s leg close enough to force the Soldier to stop and deploy his biotic field in order to not pass out from blood loss, but in the meantime a sudden dizzying sensation took over him, making him sway on his feet and almost stunning him on the spot.

It’s barely out of the corner of his eye that he can see a floating orb sending some type of hostile energy at him. “Goddamn it, why can’t you people stay out of this…” he hisses, dropping his now empty guns and materializing new ones, “…bunch of ingrates.”

In the split second it takes for the knight to dispose of his opponents, a man positions himself in the monk’s line of sight and takes aim.

Several things happen at once: Hanzo nocks an arrow and fires, shouting “EMP!!” while letting his projectile fly true; the man is killed when the shot hits him clean through the throat, in the miniscule sliver of space left unprotected by the tactical vest, but not before he manages to pull the trigger.

If Zenyatta could, he’d close his eyes to brace for impact as he curls more into himself to protect Estrela from the blast, but instead of the shockwave that would bring him to his doom, a cry of _“Ryuujin no ken wo kurae!!!”_ is what he hears and a green blur gets in-between him and his end.

The dragon’s roar is familiar, almost reassuring, as the beast bites the explosive EMP round mid-air, just slightly in front of his master –the blast does go off, but Genji’s presence put a safe distance between it and Zenyatta, protecting both master and child at the expense of his own body.

The monk can feel the heat in his circuits rise along his worry, as he sees the ninja’s body get blown backwards in a flurry of smoke and sparks.

“Genji!” he doesn’t have a mouth, but it feels like a shout nonetheless. Hastily floating to him, he extends his arms to try and cradle the other’s hand on his knees –taking a quick look at his surroundings, he sees his chance: McCree s doing his best to keep his attackers at bay, but one of his shoulders is bleeding and the Soldier’s biotic field has run out minutes ago. Reinhardt is also falling back towards him, and if Hanzo’s silence over the comm is any indication, the archer is already damning himself for not being fast enough and will do something stupid like jump down from his perch if he doesn’t do something first.

The knight comes back in range, makin a total of three people that will benefit from this, as well as a god shield for the child in his charge. Zenyatta crosses his fingers, and for a moment he wishes he had lips to smile, as Estrella gingerly hops down from his lap to let him do his thing and be the pillow for her uncle Genji’s head.

“Experience tranquility.” He announces over the comm, granting his teammates a brief immunity to anything that might be thrown at them and an excellent chance to group up and plan the next strike.

Jesse meets Soldier’s gaze as they see the Reaper falling back. Instead of trying to attack those of them not protected by Zenyatta’s transcendence, the wraith goes for the tube that was still standing, Talon agents not paying him any mind, busy as they were to try and separate the Overwatch team from their healer, so it’s a surprise when two full loads of shotgun shells get released into the tube, destroying the last subject with it.

“They’re eradicating the experiments! Stop them!” one of the scientists reaches for a door on the upper levels, “R16, activate!”

Hanzo mentally scolds himself, as he fires another arrow a split-second too late. _As if we needed any more of this shit._ He thinks, watching the scientist fall dead just after the activation words and a little boy in full combat gear and with a lit-up red eye step out of the doors.

They know it’s a threat, and from how Genji deflected his shots on their first encounter, they know the subject doesn’t miss… but which one of them is going to actually take aim at a fourteen year old? The archer considers it. Half the power plant is on fire, localized explosions making the situation worse and worse. The fight has become a strange three-way among them, Talon and the Reaper, who doesn’t seem to be here to fight _them_ specifically as much as he’s destroying any and all equipment in the place, it’s a clusterfuck.

What he does know is that there’s a specific set of people he has to protect, once Zenyatta’s Transcendence subsides and leaves him vulnerable and worn out.

“Genji, can you hear me?” he calls over the comm, and there’s no measure to his relief as he hears his brother utter a response:

“I can.”

He smirks. “Can you catch?” knowing his brother would understand, he moves so that he can have a clean view of them.

“Ready when you are.” Comes the reply, and Hanzo only has to take one breath, before uttering the command.

_“Ryuuga waga teki wo kurau.”_

The arrow flies true, along with the massive roaring blue dragons, and if Zenyatta had any skin, he’s sure he would have jumped out of it as the beasts fly towards them, but Genji sits up sharply and catches the projectile by the shaft, brusquely falling back down and holding the arrow to his chest, as if it was a teddy bear. The twin dragons circle around them, instead of disappearing, snapping at anything that comes near and tearing apart enemies and bullets alike.

The archer jumps down to support McCree, using his bow as a melee weapon instead of sniping, especially considering that keeping his dragons out and about too long will quickly drain him, and his aim will go to shit very fast.

Reaper is giving them all a run for their money, deforming and reforming in different places and proving to be an extremely hard target to kill.

“Why are you protecting the little reject?” the wraith asks, as he shoots at the cowboy, “She’s a failed experiment like the others, it’s better to just dispose of it!”

Jesse is keeping an eye out for his team, as Reinhardt puts his barrier back up in front of R16 and D.Va makes herself into bait, the MEKA protecting her from the boy’s bullets, even if not for too long.

“No she ain’t!” he growls back, “You ain’t touching one hair on my little girl’s head!”

Reaper seems very much done, and that’s when McCree notices it: in a way very unlike his usual fighting style, the wraith has been only fighting defensively this whole time. “Fine. Be that way. It’s your funeral, ingrate.” He shoots another round before throwing those guns away as well, materializing new ones while he moves away and out of reach. “I’m just here to blow this place up, whether you’re in it or not.”

But that doesn’t make sense –okay, the project was on the verge of being shut down, but why would Talon send Reaper to actively kill that many men and waste resources, instead of ordering evacuation first?

Unless the wraith wasn’t sent at all.

 _Could it be he’s been a double agent all along?_ It’s not an unfamiliar tactic. Get close, become reliable, make yourself irreplaceable, and then cut the problem at the root. It’s a tactic Jesse knows all too well, Reyes was fond of it during their Blackwatch days—

—in fact, this is very much something Reyes would do.

“Get down, you foolish cowboy!” McCree barely registers Hanzo all but jumping him to shove him out of a shot’s way, frozen as he is. He searches for Soldier with his eyes, but the man has gone off after the wraith with a passion.

Predictable, especially if the person behind Reaper is who he thinks it is. Hanzo is still shouting at him, and his breathing is laboured from the effort of keeping the dragons up around his injured brother and their healer. A blue flash catches his eye.

“Guys! I have scoped out the upstairs and destroyed all of their archives, no one will know anything about Estrella or subject R16 anymo—”

“Tracer, look out!”

The shot rings out painfully, and Estrella’s shout of “Rico!” is only drowned out by the clanging of Lena’s fall.

More people are coming from the inside of the building, but Hana quickly puts a damper in the reinforcements, driving her MEKA into the one access point to the control room and diving out of it to self-destruct.

“Take this, bitches!”

It’s a risky maneuver, considering they’re all already breathing a lot of smoke and fighing in a building with increasingly precarious conditions, but at least the odds are not going to get any worse for a good while. Jesse exchanges a glance with Hanzo and the archer nods at him, darting to help Tracer considering he can’t do much without his arrows.

“Lena! Lena, hey.” He calls once he reaches her, protected by McCree’s cover fire, “I’m going to pick you up and bring you in range of Zenyatta’s healing orb, but you have to stay awake for me.”

“What… happened?” she weakly calls, not quite lucid because of both the shot and the hard fall, “Hanzo…?”

“Yes. Yes, stay awake, Lena.” The archer almost pleads, darting this and that way between falling debris and hostile faces, nodding a brief thanks at Reinhardt for moving his barrier to shield them as another barrage of shots comes their way –Hana is now falling back as well, not quite up to the task of being decoy for the never-missing gaze of R16 and more than happy to let the knight take her place.

Tracer is losing a lot of blood, and the archer scrambles for something to keep her lucid while he gets her in range. “Hey. Hey! How about we do that karaoke night once we get back?”

She chokes out a laugh. “You’ll sing for me?”

“I’ll do you one better.” He promises, “I’ll serenade Jesse the stupidest American song we can find, and you can take a video of it. But you must stay awake!”

They were prepared for superior numbers. Maybe not quite an entire power plant’s worth of people, but Hana’s exploded MEKA is staving off the wave of reinforcements for now; and yet things went south so fast, what with Reaper showing up and stealing part of their attention and the laboratory catching fire within the first few minutes of battle, making everything a liability –no matter how much training they get in, things will always derail from plans.

At least their drills in case of emergencies get them to act fast when said emergencies actually happen.

Hanzo breathes a sigh of relief when Zenyatta finally comes in sight and flings the orb of harmony at Lena, which instantly stops the bleeding and gives them time to get her out of danger; but the battle is far from over. Despite only having a few stragglers remaining to round up, not counting the Reaper, there is still one problem headed their way.

And right now, that problem has darted down the stairs and is pointing his scope at the archer, projecting a tiny red dot right in the middle of Hanzo’s forehead.

R16 takes aim.

“Aniki!!!” Genji screams, with what little is left of his voice, but Estrella’s scream is louder.

Time slows, almost to a halt.


	16. Homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are what they are.  
> They're never perfect, but then again nothing is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOLY CRAP THIS KICKED MY ASS AS WELL.
> 
> I apologize if the interactions with Reaper and 76 seem out of character, it's my first time ever writing about them and idk.  
> It's 2 am.  
> I'm supposed to wake back up in five hours.  
> I think it turned out pretty okay.  
> Also do not be surprised if some parts look just "glossed over", it's because I'm planning to do a series of one-shots after this, each giving the rightful space to scenes that were playing out in my head while writing this but couldn't all possibly fit into one chapter.  
> Also I have an AU in the working, hehe.

The power plant is slowly but surely turning into a furnace. Debris is scattered everywhere, lumps of destroyed equipment crackle and creak like dying beasts, filling the air with static and the dangerous awareness that explosions have gone off here and there and more are likely to come. Many a wall is already darkened in patches with smoke and burn imprints, glass windows have long shattered –which is probably the only reason none of the still living occupants of the place have passed out from smoke inhaling.

In the midst of the ruined mess, Soldier:76 chases after his prey.

“How is the situation?” a friendly voice asks through the comm device McCree had all but thrown at him, threatening bodily harm if he dared to take it off. “Should I send in reinforcements?”

He ponders, idly hovering his finger over the device –it probably has a tracker, which would explain why the cowboy was insisting so much for him to take it – then makes up his mind. “Don’t bother. They have some wounded but the situation is under control, save for a few stragglers. Back up would take too long and the structure is liable to collapse soon. Just have the medical team at the ready plus Torbjörn.”

Winston tries to ask more, but he mutes the device. He’s going after Reaper, and he doesn’t need the distraction.

“You double-crossing son of a bitch! Whose side are you even—” pained screams and a shotgun blast clue Jack in towards his target.

It’s been years. And yet it hasn’t been a single moment. The wraith, cloaked in black and with the white owl mask, looks nothing like the person that he was long ago; and yet he’s still the same.

The dead Talon agent at his feet seems to suddenly make him uncomfortable, as if he’s been caught doing something embarrassing or cheesy. Reaper steps over it, moving to stand in front of it rather than behind.

“You shouldn’t have come here.” His voice is on the wrong side of hoarse and has an unnatural echo to it, but it sends a flare of recognition through Morrison all the same. “This has nothing to do with Overwatch, if you’d just stayed out of it…” he points his weapons at the Soldier, but doesn’t move to shoot.

“If these people didn’t try to demolish this with all their might, Talon would have taken weeks, maybe months into disbanding the project, and in the meantime more kids would have been killed and made into weapons.” Jack doesn’t lower his gun either, taking a few tentative steps, but does stall for more time. “You should know I wouldn’t stand for it.”

“Damn it, Morrison, not everything is about you!” the wraith growls, and his frame flickers for a moment, “This thing that they were trying out? A stupid, fruitless project. It would have gone away with or without your involvement. They were trying to pick out younger shells for their human-weapons because they’ve been catching on about how much their ‘brainwashed’ pawns aren’t looking so brainwashed after all.” He takes a step forward as well, telling himself it’s because shotguns have a shorter range to pulse rifles, and that is it. “They thought a younger, more impressionable mind wouldn’t fight back that much. They were right, but they didn’t take into account that the younger, underdeveloped bodies aren’t really fit for combat. The subjects tend to deteriorate, and eventually fall in vegetative state. They move and fight, but they are little more than puppets with remote strings. Sooner than later the impulses become not enough, and the subjects finally die.”

Under his facemask, Morrison cracks a smile. “That’s an impressive amount of information you’re willingly giving to the enemy.”

The low cackle doesn’t sound nearly as hostile as it should. “Hey, the project was shut down. I’m just the clean-up demolisher.” He quips, gesturing with one arm to the destroyed equipment around them. One of the walls has a hole where a big computer was flung into it full force and broken in several pieces. “Using kids for weaponry was a stupid ass idea anyway.”

They still into silence, weapons raised against each other, neither with any real will to shoot but each knowing the other better than to even think about lowering guard.

“Gabe.” Soldier’s voice has a subtle break in the middle of that call for the Reaper’s real name, but he doesn’t let it stop him. “You know I can’t let you leave this place.” He takes another step closer.

“You don’t have a choice, Jackie.” Reaper makes a show of taking aim at his chest, even as they get close enough that their raised weapons criss-cross each other. “All of you will have to leave soon anyway, this place is gonna blow up.”

Jack can’t help the growl rising from his chest to his throat. “I don’t care!” he doesn’t quite yell, but it’s a close thing. “I’m not leaving without you.”

“You stubborn son of a bitch.” Gabriel’s grip on his shotguns falters, but only for a second. They’re both tired from the previous fighting, he can see sweat beading on Soldier’s forehead, as well as the heavy rising and falling of his chest, not to mention the burning, smoky structure is doing nobody any favours. With the only exception of himself, considering he’s not quite sure he’s technically even alive. Still, even his energy is rapidly draining –neither of them are in shape for another fight, but at the same time he’s not about to just let up and be whisked off by this idealistic, stupid, _pointlessly sentimental boy scout._ A beep goes off near his temple, and he lets one shotgun dissolve as he taps into it. “Hey, is everything ready?”

_“Well… yes and no.”_

The voice ringing through his ear is laced with mischief, which is nothing new, it’s the apologetic undertone that worries him. It sounds far too sincere to come from her. “What did you do?”

 _“Nothing, the remote controls for the charges are all active and in position…”_ the voice assures, _“There’s just.. an extra one.”_

Another explosion rings in the distance, joining the ones already happening all around. Beneath his mask, Reaper closes his eyes in frustration. There goes his ride, damn it. He’s gonna have to hoof it when he gets out of there.

 _“I know you hate it when I’m nosy, but you have a real chance.”_ The voice from the earpiece says, _“I know you know you still care about these people, and the lone-wolf double agent bullshit has been going on long enough. Stop being such an idiota, and go. They’ll take you back.”_

Focused as he was on silently cursing the nosy little hacker for meddling with his business yet again, Gabriel makes the mistake of lowering his shotgun. Eyes still closed, he completely misses Jack surging forward and striking him hard behind the nape of his neck with the butt of the pulse rifle.

The last thing he hears before he passes out is “Sorry, Gabe. I’ll make it up to you.”, while a scream and a roar echo in the distance.

 

Hanzo always thought he’d die from either a blade, a bullet, or some other such circumstance, rather than old age. None of his imagined scenarios, though, ever involved a little girls crying for him, not to mention his own brother sounding so anguished at the prospect, not after what transpired between them.

The real, very poignant question is: why is he not dead?

He opens his eyes, realizing he had briefly closed them when he unconsciously clutched Tracer’s body closer to his chest to protect her, and sees pure blue light.

_You are safe, master._

_Soba._ He thinks, _You were supposed to be protecting the child._

_The little one sent us, master._

_Udon?_ He’s still wrapping his mind around the fact that the dragons disobeyed his order, even if to save him. His hearing distantly picks out the tail end sounds of battle, McCree, Hana and Reinhardt making quick work of the last stragglers, occasionally supported by Zenyatta’s orbs flinging themselves here and there, despite the omnic still being very much busy with holding Genji's semi-conscious form.

A shock of blond hair comes into view in the corner of his eye.

_Estrella? Estrella!!!_

He whips his head around so hard it almost hurts. The little girl is stepping towards him despite Zenyatta’s pleas to stand back and get back to him where it’s safe, and puts herself between him and the boy now known as R16.

The twins are swirling around master and child alike, their roar still present but muted to a humming vibration, more akin to a constant ohm sound than an actual animal verse. There’s an arrow on the floor, where it clattered pitifully after Estrella snatched it from Genji’s grasp and threw it at Rico, in order to protect her father in the only way she was sure it would work.

Hanzo recalls his conversation with Genji after the Scandinavian mission on whether it was actually possible to channel the twins through different materials. An arrow without a bow is not exactly a weapon, but stretching the rules a bit it could be considered a throwing dagger or a dart.

_But she’s too young to withstand them! How…_

The archer takes a good long look at his daughter –there’s no need to pretend it’s otherwise, the dragons obeyed her, she’s practically a Shimada already – and sure enough, she doesn’t look too good The arm she used to grab and throw the arrow, and through which the dragons’ bodies were filtered and re-channelled, looks positively mangled. Hanzo can see severe burns and a lot of blood.

Somewhere in the back of his head, he hopes Estrella is left-handed, because he’s going to make her write about not diving into danger a _thousand_ times, when they get back.

As f sensing his thoughts, the little girl sends a guilty smile his way. “Sorry for disobeying, otousan.”

“Estrella… of all the reckless things to do—” his worried, pained lecture gets interrupted by scuffling sounds further in front of them.

R16 has been maimed by the dragon strike, despite the inaccuracy and lack of control. The right arm is nearly separated from the body at the shoulder and burned all over, hanging limply to the side of his body. Part of his face and the leg from the knee down have suffered the same fate. Still, the boy doesn’t seem to feel any pain, moving to shuffle up like an empty marionette, bending forward to pick his pistol back up with his left hand.

The left eye still gleams red. Estrella kneels to pick up the arrow, and steps back, closer to Hanzo. “Rico… Rico, stop it!”

What was once her friend looks at her, but doesn’t really see. There’s no expression on his face, and his voice is toneless.

“Directive: terminate all armed hostiles.”

Estrella’s eyes well up with tears. [Rico, please…] Up until now, her childlike mind shielded her from whatever happened while she was under Talon’s custody and then given to the human traffickers. Up to the moment when Uncle Genji got hurt, she was content to hide her face in Uncle Zenny’s chest and just listen to the bad guys fall, but now, as she forces herself to look up and sees what had been one of her only friends during the scary times they spent as prisoners… Estrella watches, and feels like today is the day she will really learn what “death” is.

Rico was the oldest one, he was fourteen, and he protected her and Jovita when they were in the dark room. He bit the arm of a scary man who tried to touch Jovita too close. But then they took him away. Javier got sick not too late after, and they took him too. She never found out what happened to Amauris and Jovita, because she was the third one to be taken out of the room. Now, however, she can look beyond Rico and see what’s lying in the shattered remains of the tubes.

She looks, but doesn’t really see. Doesn’t really want to.

“Directive:” R16 repeats, taking aim, “Terminate all armed hostiles.”

Hanzo has a lapful of still very much hurt Lena, but tries to lean forward and grasp Estrella, to try and put her behind himself –except the child flails and struggles to pull away, facing her friend’s empty shell.

Her arm hurts, she’s tired, she’s so scared, and she only wants to go home and think this was all a bad dream. Has to be. [No, please, make it stop…]

_Call for us, little one._

The little girl feels a chill. Time seems to slow down, her breath takes longer to leave her mouth.

_Master wants you safe. We will protect you._

Estrella doesn’t quite know who’s speaking, but the hum coming from the twins grows louder –she may be only six, but she’s a smart child. _Will you save otousan too?_

Hanzo is carefully but quickly depositing Lena to lay on her uninjured side, in order to be able to try and tug Estrella away.

_It is our ancestral duty and our very purpose in existence, child._

“Directive: terminate all armed hostiles.”

_Then… one more time…_

Now or never, she tells herself. Shakily, she lifts her hand again. R16’s fingers are on the trigger, but the blue energy swirling around her is so strong. She makes the throw, closing her eyes and letting her mouth fall open in a pained scream as the very power of the twins courses through her without Hanzo as a shield and a catalyst.

Once more, R16 falls down like a puppet with its strings cut, only this time there’s no way he’s getting back up. For an interminable moment, Hanzo is afraid he was too late, or that Estrella has been completely consumed by the dragon strike.

Instead, there she is. Her right arm look positively mauled, and the peter-pan collared shirt is ruined, but she survived.

His adoptive daughter, all of six years old, saved his and Tracer’s lives.

The archer practically leaps to her when he sees her tremble and lose balance. His hands are bloody as he moves to hold her by the waist with one arm, and take her hand with his tattooed one, but he doesn’t pay it any mind: Estrella’s fingers are bloody as well –Hanzo doesn’t know whether to appreciate the irony or feel like a failure as a father.

_Master. You are safe._

The twins are starting to dissolve, but Hanzo can only nod absently to himself, as he hugs the little girl closer, while the rest of the team works on finishing the battle and protecting them.

 _You can finally heal now._ The twins say. He briefly looks up, curious as to what that has to do with anything.

_You can hold your own heart in your hand. You will be whole again._

Hanzo simply closes his eyes again, feeling the dragons return to rest inside of his tattoo after disappearing in their usual blue specks of light.

Battle won, but having been all separated from each other for so long, McCree runs to them so fast he falls over when he reaches them.

“Darlin’! Han, oh Lord…” the gunslinger kneels to grasp his partner’s face in both hands. “Are you okay? How is Lena?”

“She’s stable, but we need to get her back to Mercy…” Hanzo answers numbly, still not quite over the shock of everything that happened.

“And Estrellita?” Jesse turns to the little girl, who’s visibly in shock, nestled in the archer’s embrace and clutching her right shoulder, “Babygirl? Munchkin, can ya hear me? Oh god, what happened to ya sweetpea?”

“Please, bring her closer to me.” Zenyatta pleads not quite wanting to leave Genji’s side but already sending the orb of harmony floating towards them, “I will ease her pain and do what I can for the burns…”

“You could probably use some help with that.”

If they had any strength left, they’d probably jump when Soldier’s voice joins them, as he comes back into the main room through a devastated wall, carrying an unconscious Reaper.

“Holy shit, old man.” Is all that McCree says, when he noticed the wraith.

Morrison just scoffs at him, and deploys a biotic field. “Bring Tracer and Genji closer. This will stabilize and help their condition, let Zenyatta focus on properly healing the child.” He barks, using practicality as a way to avoid having to talk things out and refusing to let himself be called out when there’s people wounded and possibly dying. “We can’t stay here too long, the whole place has remote charges all over and will explode any minute now. Jesse, Wilhelm, get over here as well. You too, kid.”

Minor as some of them can be, the whole team has suffered at least a couple injuries, and the faster they get in shape enough to run out and carry the severely wounded ones, the better.

 

They manage to make their way out just in time, with no small merit to the fact that Morrison stole Reaper’s communicator and managed to tell the mysterious hacker on the other side to wait until they were out.

When he finally gave the signal, the only reply was _“Boop.”_ And he had to rip out the comm device as it self-destructed as well. Whoever this girl is, she’s obviously very skilled –but they don’t have the time to think about it, since with Tracer out of commission and Genji not quite up to par either, it falls on Hana to pilot the transport and Hanzo assists her while Jesse spends the entire flight holding Estrella in his arms, Soldier and Reinhardt keeping watch on Reaper and Zenyatta caring for his beloved student.

From his laying position, Genji starts to hum.

The song has now become so familiar, that Jesse joins in, whistling it faintly to Estrella, and mercifully enough, it does help to calm the child down a little bit.

Genji had no doubts about it –it’s something he himself always associated with things that are good, and safe, and loved… it’s his brother’s lullaby, and no doubt Estrella feels the same about it.

“Hana no you ni hakanai no nara  
kimi no moto de sakihokoru deshou…  
Soshite egao mitodoketa ato  
sotto hitori chitteyuku deshou…”

Morrison is somewhat incredulous –he only remembered the old Genji –the bitter, angry one – so the softer, uncle side is a surprise for him, but still, despite not knowing the words, he too relaxes slightly as the lullaby goes on, shifting his gaze to Reaper –no, Gabriel, it _is_ Gabe underneath all that – as he turns slightly wistful.

“Tori no you ni habatakeru nara  
kimi no moto e tondeyuku deshou…  
Soshite kizu o otta sono se ni  
boku no hane o sashidasu deshou….”

Jesse sways  bit as he whistles along, rocking Estrella gently into falling asleep, and only breaks rhythm for a second, to turn towards the cyborg and mutely mouth “thank you” at him, to which Genji nods as he continues.

“Kaze no you ni nagareru no nara  
kimi no soba ni tadoritsuku deshou…  
Tsuki no you ni kagayakeru nara  
kimi o terashitsuzukeru deshou…”

Zenyatta’s hand moves to rest on Genji’s chest, during the last few words, and the cyborg gathers up enough strength to move his own hand to lay it over the omnic’s, pressing it slightly more into his own chest, as if wanting to imprint it on his body.

 _Close enough that my hand over his heart is his own._ Never in his life has Zenyatta been so scared of losing someone, and never before has he been so glad to be utterly and completely wrong about it. His faceplate’s lights glow brighter, in the omnic version of a warm smile.

It’s been complete chaos and many terrible things happened, but they made it out, with new challenges to look forward to in the future and a greater awareness of the value of their present.

 

The arrival back to base is hectic to say the least, with the team’s medics going into a flurry to patch everybody up, Torbjörn good-naturedly grumbling about “fixing them dragon boys one too many times”.

Reyes is taken into custody as a preventive measure, his arrival at Gibraltar definitely throwing Overwatch’s old guard for a loop; and for a while he’s just uncooperative, bordering on unresponsive, not really lashing out or trying to escape, but not really doing much of anything else, really.

“Do you still hope for him to snap out of it?” Hanzo asks Jesse in passing.

“Welp, Morrison dragged his ass all the way here.” The cowboy comments, as they usher themselves in, “He won’t let him _not_ snap out of it.”

Angela does her best to cure Estrella with her Caduceus, and manages to save most of her arm and hand, but the nerve endings and some tendons are fried from the elbow down, and will have to be replaced with cybernetic enhancements if she is to ever use the hand again.

 

It takes days for the child to get over the trauma of the events and more to accept news of losing part of her arm. She spends a lot of time sleeping, hiding out in Hanzo’s room or otherwise refusing to be separated from Jesse or the archer himself.

Tracer holds Hanzo true to his promise, and karaoke night at Gibraltar sees Hanzo serenading a downright ancient song at Jesse –the song itself is not bad, it’s actually a classic, but they all agreed that nothing is cheesier than a song titled “L-O-V-E”. McCree retaliates by belting out an old country tune to the archer like all the boys southern songs warn you about; he never had a yakuza teacher, but he makes do, even if, when all it’s said and done, Lúcio predictably out-sings them all.

A full week later, Uncle Genji is still trying to make her feel better, talking about Estrella being the most amazing cyborg niece a cyborg ninja could ever ask for, as he teaches alongside Hanzo the kanas for “I will not walk headfirst into danger.”

 She smiles a tiny smile at the praise, but her expression is still shaken.

Hanzo comes back from where he was brewing tea, and deposits a cup at Estrella’s side as well. “You’re doing very well, Estrellita.” He coos softly, “You can take a break, have some tea.”

“Okay. Thank you, otousan.” The brothers look at each other, while the child meekly sips her tea.

It’s a far cry from the bombastic and spunky little monster they were getting used to, but it’s understandable, considering what she went through.

“It’s alright.” The archer says, catching his younger brother’s worried frown. “Healing takes time. But she has us. She has a cool cyborg uncle and a robot monk uncle. And let us not forget Renardo the lava monster!”

Hearing Hanzo talk about healing and making jokes is like a balm for Genji’s soul –in his quest to help his daughter get better, it seems he too is learning to let go more and more of his dark shared past with Genji.

Estrella’s eyes light up at the mention of the crusader. “Can I go play before finishing my homework?”

Damn puppy eyes and mother nature who gave them to adorable little children. “You can.” Hanzo knows he should be more stern, but he guesses he’d be a complete asshole if he tried to hold Estrella to the same bullshit standard his own father demanded from him –the poor thing has been through Hell, starting well before the fated mission, she more than earned some leeway on homework. “In fact, you can play for the rest of the afternoon. You will finish your writing after dinner.”

That succeeds in bringing a tiny spark into the child. She sucks in a big breath, smiling widely as she jumps out of the chair. “Thank you, otousan!” she moves to bolt, but the archer stops her, grabbing her new and cool enhanced hand and tugging her to him:

“Are you not forgetting anything, my child?”

The little girl makes a show of thinking about it, then smacks a kiss on her father’s cheek and also tugs on Uncle Genji’s head scarf to pull him down enough to give him a peck too.

“Good girl. I feel magical already.” The cyborg gently pats her head, and they watch as she runs from the study to the rec room, calling for her favourite German grandpa.

 

Surprisingly, Jesse is the first one to notice something changing.

Estrella’s seventh birthday has come and gone; her presents included but not limited to a dollhouse –custom built, courtesy of Torbjörn– a tablet with an entire series of illustrated books about dinosaurs from Winston, a new room, right next door to Hanzo’s and much more lively than an impersonal standard guestroom, decorated with the combined effort of several members of the team, and more.

Among other things, Winston receives an e-mail titled “Feliz Cumpleaños, Estrellita” and is very puzzled to find out that the attachment is actually adoption paperwork looking legal and perfectly legit, despite Jesse and Hanzo not knowing anything about it. They all have an inkling on who did it, and it’s probably been forged. But things are what they are, and the little girl in their care is now officially Estrella McCree Shimada Tavares.

It’s a mouthful and a half, but in Lúcio’s own words: “Holy crap it sounds badass!”

Estrella’s mood brightens considerably at the news, and she gets closer and closer to returning to her usual, energetic self.

The wooden daggers, instead, were Jesse’s idea. “She seems to have a knack for it…” he said, “Might as well teach her so we can keep an eye on ‘er.”

Reluctantly, Hanzo agrees. They’re doing some very basic training by the beach, enjoying the way early morning sun is still not too hot, even now that summer has completely replaces spring; going over fundamentals and posture. The child finds it boring, but at the same time she wants to do good and become a cool cyborg ninja like her uncle. It’s when the cowboy comes out to join them and he’s kissing his archer hello that he notices Estrella hugging herself, cybernetic hand scratch-scratching at her shoulder-blade as she stands somewhat idle.

She’s been doing it from time to time for a while, and after the whole secret device misadventure, McCree is understandably paranoid.

“What’s wrong, Estrellita?”

The little girl shrugs, blonde braid falling away from her shoulder and dangling behind her back. “I don’t know, papi. My back itches. Do I have sand on it?”

She turns around, allowing Jesse to move her hair to the side and lift her shirt. Both he and Hanzo do a double-take.

It’s faint, for now, but they’re not imagining it. Especially not considering the stirring the archer can feel underneath his skin: the twins are drawn to it, looking forward to the appearance of their own pup. There, starting on Estrella’s shoulder-blade and coiling down towards her side, are the faint outlines of a very familiar type of dragon tattoo, in shades of red and orange, with little white flames accentuating it here and there.

Hanzo is speechless. Jesse is biting his lips to keep from smiling too big and holding both his hands to his mouth to prevent his jaw from dropping to the floor.

“Otousan? Is it bad?” she gets worried for a second as her archer dad practically flops down to his knees in front of her, but then he hugs her tight and she can feel him sigh contentedly.

“Not at all, my child.” He utters, voice breaking a little with leftover stupor, “Remember what I’ve been telling you about the dragons, and how they are our spirit guardians?”

“Yes?”

Hanzo makes an effort to draw back and look her in the eyes, to give the moment the attention it deserves: “As my daughter, you’re getting your own dragon spirit.”

Estrella’s bright blue eyes grow impossibly wide, and she starts jumping in place, shouting excitedly and asking questions a mile a minute, eventually switching to Spanish and making it impossible for Hanzo to even hope to follow, and he meets Jesse’s gaze, hopeless but so, so happy.

Happier than he’s been in a long time. Possibly ever.

He has a family.

Holy crap, he has a real family.

Apparently Jesse reached a similar epiphany, if the utterly gobsmacked look on his face is any indication.

Truth to be told, there always were some things the cowboy tended to take for granted or do in autopilot, treating his old teammates like family felt natural and including the recruit in his easygoing friendship wasn’t hard, but he never really understood the true extent of it until it came to a child to raise and care for, side by side with the man he has grown to know and love.

His past family wasn’t a happy one, what little he remembers of his biological father was a mean drunk with a violent streak and not much else. Then there was Deadlock, then Blackwatch, then years and years of _nothing_ … settling down was never a thought and he never had any reason to ponder, but the thought had somehow been at the back of his head: would he turn out like his old man if he ever had a kid?

A part of him actually thought the prospect of never having to find out was better, at the time, but now… he feels proud.

He adopted a little girl, he loves her something fierce and she’s gonna grow up great.

Estrella throws her tiny arms around Hanzo, and it’s all it takes for Jesse to pick up the archer as he holds the child, and lift the both of them before holding them close in a group embrace.

 

The team is both surprised and elated –except Genji, who has a smug, “I knew it” kind of expression for the entirety of the revelation.

Clearly, Estrella will have to stay in Gibraltar with them now that dragons are a factor in her life –after all, she needs to stay closer to the Shimada brothers if she’s to safely grow up with her newfound condition – and they spend a good chunk of the day selecting a school close enough to base and other such arrangements. The child complains about having to go to school considering she’s already a badass cyborg dragon lady, but her puppy eyes don’t get her way this time around.

She ends up liking it a lot better when it finally starts, and at least it gives her something to do while her dads do their warrior thing. All in all, life is good.

Even though grandpa Gabriel is weird.

He keeps insisting he’s not her grandpa, ad for all summer she didn’t even see him much. Grandpa Jack used to say that making things right again is a slow and often painful process, whatever that meant, and a lot of strange people come and go at the base.

Big words like “probation” and “UN hearing” get thrown around, but come September she gets used to seeing the shadow-man around, and one time she comes back from school to end up catching a glimpse of grandpa Gabe slouching on a sofa in the rec room, watching a novela. She looks up at Jessito who picked her up at school and walked the way back with her, and her cowboy dad just shrugs at her, trying and failing to hide a smirk.

Reminding herself that she’s a brave dragon girl, Estrella untangles her tiny fingers from papi’s hand and slowly but surely inches towards the sofa. She eventually goes to sit beside Gabriel, and wordlessly flops down, leaning her head on the wraith’s side.

[This is a pretty shitty show.] she mumbles, moving her hand to rest on Gabe’s arm.

Reaper’s posture stiffens at the contact, but he doesn’t move to disappear or push her away. [Yeah well.] he grumbles, never once taking his eyes off the screen. [It’s what makes them funny. It’s not a real novela if it’s not shit.]

If somebody ever told Jesse that one day he’d be looking at his daughter having some bonding time with his surrogate father figure over telenovelas, he’d call them crazy and laugh, but looking at this now…

“Is it too cheesy to be true yet?”

McCree’s hands immediately come to rest over Hanzo’s, as the archer sneaks on him from behind to hug him and kiss his shoulder.

“Can’t rightly say, sweetheart, but I could sure get used to it.”

Hanzo bites his lower lip, barely restraining a smile. “I agree wholeheartedly.”

“Hey, lovebirds! Why don’t you two go be gross somewhere else?” the wraith growls at them, “I’ll watch the gremlin for you, even, just get out of my face, for fuck’s sake!”

They’re laughing like teenagers as they retreat back to more private places, narrowly dodging a shotgun thrown in their direction. Hanzo will still send Genji or Lúcio to keep an eye on Estrella as well –and he will continue to do so for a while – he can’t find it in himself to completely trust Reyes with his daughter, not yet at least; though he does believe that, if _he_ has been forgiven and is well on the way to redemption, then everyone can.

All in all, things are far from perfect –they’re still struggling with the UN and the PETRAS act, and there’s still an ongoing international crisis to take care of, and Talon to fight against… but they feel like they’re going to be alright.

They have each other’s back. Like a family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. Our journey with Estrella comes to an end!  
> Suggestions on a name for her dragon are welcome and encouraged ;)
> 
> Coming up next for sure, but not necessarily in this order: a oneshot recunting karaoke night in more detail; a genyatta-centric scene from the time Genji accidentally heard Hanzo making McCree beg for it and fled the scene, but not fast enough to avoid getting second wind; possibly a bunnyribbit one with archerdad and cowboydad taking care of Hana and Lùcio; a present-day AU I've been talking about with my good friend cascadedEquilibrium on tumblr; and last but not least a one-shot of Reaper's slow recovery back int being part of Overwatch.
> 
> But do let me know if there are any things you wish to see or prompts you want to see brought to life in the Star Struck-verse.  
> I'm throwing in the towel for now, I got closing shift tomorrow and I'm exhausted.  
> Se you lovely people next time! <3
> 
> EDIT: slipper joke substituted with weaponry because accidental racism is just as bad as intentional one (thanks guest for the headsup on that, the corresponding stereotype I took inspiration from was never considered that bad in my own Country, but it's different from place to place I guess -too bad there's no Italians in overwatch, I would have so much material to use freely, lol).  
> ...lol, momReaper.


End file.
